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'Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge' Returns Saturday, Aug. 14 -- A Homecoming for Legal Street Racing


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  • Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge will be held for the sixth year in Pontiac, Michigan, kicking off metro Detroit's weeklong celebration of the American car culture
  • High-octane excitement with a full day of sanctioned legal street racing on historic Woodward Avenue, August 14, 2021
  • A series of exhilarating interactive experiences, including thrill and drift rides in Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats in two locations, immersive activations and exclusive insider access celebrating the return of legal street racing
  • New celebrity showdown formatevents/roadkillnights

Returning to kick off cruise week for 2021, Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge is back with legal street drags on iconic Woodward Avenue.

For the sixth year, Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge returns as the traditional kick off to the Motor City's weeklong celebration of classic cars and car culture with legal street drag racing, classic and modern muscle car show, exhilarating interactive experiences and immersive, fun-filled activities at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan. Unlike any other event in the world, drivers of the fastest street-legal drag cars in America have the opportunity to drag race in front of spectators on historic Woodward Avenue as it is transformed from a street into a sanctioned, 1/8-mile drag strip.

"Roadkill Nights — legal street racing powered by Dodge — is back this summer," said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer - Stellantis. "Our Brotherhood of Muscle spoke — screamed, actually — that they were ready for it to return, so we're doing it. Plus, this year we're going to take it up a notch with a TV-versus-online build-and-race challenge. The 'build rules' are going to be really loose, so we should see some serious hardware being built to find out who's faster: the TV or the Internet stars." 

Also returning for 2021 are Dodge thrill and drift rides in Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats, where participants can go for the rides of their lives as the supercharged HEMI® cuts the tires loose on the M1 Concourse skidpad and north loop portion of the track. Other returning fan favorites include the high-octane virtual head-to-head racing in Dodge Challenger SRT Demon simulators; classic and modern muscle car show; dyno testing; "Roadkill" stunts; flamethrower, wheelstander, pro-mod exhibitions; family-friendly activities; and an eclectic array of food truck offerings (subject to change).

Roadkill Nights is shifting gears this year with a new celebrity showdown format providing four popular automotive social media influencers each with a Dodge Hellcat, $10,000 in cash for car modifications and one task: build drag racing machines capable of besting The Fastest Cars in the Dirty South," in a drag race. Nothing compares to the pure adrenaline of a driver hitting the gas on a 1/8-mile straightaway.

"After a COVID-19 hiatus in 2020, we are proud to partner with Dodge and bring back for our fans Roadkill Nights," said Eric Schwab, MotorTrend Group's Group SVP, Head of Revenue and Partnerships. "If you've ever dreamed of watching street-legal drag racing down Woodward Avenue, come to our event! We have Dodge thrill rides, a car show and street-legal drag racing. It's going to be an absolutely epic day for anyone with a passion for cars!"

Gates will be open for Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge on Saturday, August 14 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Drag racing starts at 11 a.m.

Registration Information
Additional information and details are coming soon, including spectator tickets, car show registration, participant registration for drag racing and an extensive range of packages, at hotrod.com/events/roadkillnights.

Street racing can have serious legal and safety risks. Both ROADKILL and Dodge want enthusiasts to enjoy performance driving in a safe, controlled environment, run by professionals with vehicle safety inspections, driver evaluations and track safety.

Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

2021 marks the year that Dodge is distilled into a pure performance brand, offering Hellcat-powered, 700-plus-horsepower SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2021 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the new 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry's most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2020, Dodge was named the "#1 Brand in Initial Quality," making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The Dodge brand also ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market). These results are historic because it marks the first time a domestic brand has earned top spots in both J.D. Power studies in the same year.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis , please visit www.stellantis.com.