Could “Roadkill Nights Powered By Dodge” Return To Woodward This Year?

With the Metro Detroit area being the automotive capital of the world, there is no greater place to be exposed to car culture. While the American Big-3 automakers have their headquarters located through the area, it is hard to come by someone who isn’t influenced by an auto manufacturer somehow, either foreign or domestic. That being said, the Michigan summer usually brings forth thousands of cruisers to the streets of historic Woodward Avenue (M-1) every weekend.

It was on Woodward Avenue where the Big-3 engineers during the mid-1950s to the early-1970s, would test their latest creations. Drag racing from stop light to stop light and getting feedback from fans before putting things into production. 

It wasn’t until 1995, that a group put together the Woodward Dream Cruise as a fundraiser for a soccer field in the city of Ferndale. It wasn’t long after that the neighboring cities that Woodward passes through would join in on the celebration, making the classic car event held annually on the third Saturday of August, one of the biggest automotive events in the world. What started as a one day event, now goes throughout the week and brings over a million people to the M-1 area to enjoy in various automotive events.

In 2015, MotorTrend Group’s Roadkill team joined forces with the Dodge//SRT brand to custom build a 1/8-mile drag strip at the former Pontiac Silverdome near Woodward. The event turned out to be one of the highlights of the weekend, making Roadkill and Dodge//SRT to up the ante for the 2016 event by taking a section of Woodward Ave. in the city of Pontiac, Michigan and transforming it into a true 1/8-mile drag strip and the first-ever legal street racing event on 21.488-mile stretch of roadway.

Since then, Roadkill Nights grew larger and larger. Taking over the grounds of M1 Concourse, a private facility located directly off of Woodward Ave. and featuring a mass of private car garages, a 1.5-mile road course, and car venue, Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge has brought tens of thousands of car enthuasists to the facility. In addition to cash prizes for the race winners and fastest Dodge cars on the drag strip, the annual car festival gives enthuasists a chance to get behind some of the baddest Dodge vehicles on a thrill and drift rides, Challenger SRT Demon racing simulators, a car show, dyno chassis runs, freestyle motocross, live music, a display featuring numerous Roadkill vehicles, a vendors row, and a ton of food and beverage trucks.

After being canceled last year due to the ongoing pandemic, it seems that Dodge is reaching out to the public to see if the event should return this year.

Tim Kuniskis, the CEO of the Dodge//SRT brand, posted a statement on the Dodge//SRT official Facebook late last night inquiring about an interest about the possibility of doing an event later this year.

“Based on revised CDC guidelines, there is a light at the end of the tunnel… a staging light. The science we get excited about is the coversion of energy into power and speed”, Kuniskis said. “So, this is a call-out for help – an appeal for guidance to the Brotherhood of Muscle. We need to know if you’re with us. If you will revel with us… Help us make the call. Should Dodge and MotorTrend bring Roadkill Nights back to Woodward this summer?”

So what do you think? Should Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge return to Woodward this year? We are definitely in. Leave your comments below or in the MoparInsiders.com forums.