Roadkill Nights Returns for 2021

Thousands of automotive enthusiasts are welcomed back to Woodward Avenue to celebrate car culture and to attend this year’s ultimate car festival of legal street racing

Returning to kick off cruise week for 2021, MotorTrend Presents 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 Eric Malone, star of MotorTrend's series "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 and MotorTrend will capture it all this year within a one-hour "Roadkill Showdown Special" to air on MotorTrend’s streaming service and on MotorTrend TV.

"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 MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge on Saturday, August 14 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Drag racing starts at 11 a.m.