Dodge Is Bringing Roadkill Nights Back for 2021

Dodge canceled Roadkill Nights in 2020, but incredible event is returning in all its glory.

There is no event held in the United States that is quite like Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge. It started as a sort-of pop-up automotive festival in the parking lot of an abandoned football stadium and grew into one of the premier events for American high performance enthusiasts. Like other events, Roadkill Nights has a big show-and-shine area, food trucks and displays where you can buy apparel from the sponsors, but the addition of the Dodge Thrill Rides and the legal street racing on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue makes this one of the coolest automotive events that you will ever attend.

Dodge had to cancel Roadkill Nights 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the company announced this week that it will return on Saturday, August 14, with the location once again being the M1 Concourse road racing complex in Pontiac.

“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.”

Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge History

Back in 2015, Dodge held the first Roadkill Nights event in the parking lot of the old Pontiac Silverdome in Metro Detroit and it was a smashing success.

From the short track drag racing to the show-and-shine area to the many Dodge displays – including the Hellcat Thrill Ride area – everyone who attended that first Roadkill Nights event loved it.

For 2016, the event was moved to the M1 Concourse road racing facility, also in Pontiac, but the needed a place to hold the drag racing portion. In working with the local authorities, Dodge got permission to hold legal street racing on Woodward Avenue, lifting the event to legendary status.

Since then, the legal street racing has been the main attraction of Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge, but the event as a whole has continued to improve each year. There are now two Thrill Ride areas, shortening the wait time to ride shotgun while a pro driver drifts all over the place, the show-and-shine area has gotten larger and there are more attractions – from Dodge displays to food trucks. Also, the legal street racing program has attracted many of the quickest street legal drag cars in the world, making this one of the marquee automotive events held in Detroit each year.

Sadly, the company had to cancel Roadkill Nights in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but as the state of Michigan finally prepares to fully reopen on July 1, the Dodge brand is going full steam ahead in planning their legendary event.

Pricing

In the first year, entry was free for spectators, racers and show-and-shine participants, but the racing field in 2015 was packed with cars that had no business racing. The owners simply came out and signed up because it was free, so since then, there is a registration fee and an application process, both of which help to create the best possible field of race cars. Last year, the cost of racing was $100, but pricing has not been announced for 2021. Basic spectator admission was just $10 for adults last year, but if you want a seat in the grandstands along the racing area, tickets were $40. Show-and-shine tickets were $80, which included parking inside the event and entry for two adults, but the first Dodge owners to sign up for show-and-shine get in for free.

Ticket prices could very well change for 2021, but none of that information has been announced yet. All we know for sure is that Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge is back and if you have not attended in past years, you should really try to make it to this unique automotive festival this year. We don’t know how long the company will continue to host this event and it is definitely not one that you want to miss.

Photos: Patrick Rall

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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