On August 14^th Roadkill Nights roared back into Pontiac, Michigan with the sounds of horsepower thundering legally down Woodward Avenue. This is the fifth time the event has been held at the M1 Concourse that parallels the famous Woodward Avenue, and sixth time overall. The first event being held at the Pontiac Silverdome.

Ever since its move to the Saturday before the Woodward Dream Cruise, has kicked off a week of festivities in the area. Put on by Dodge, it is the place to be if you enjoy everything muscle car. Walking the grounds there is a Manufacturers Midway with the likes of Arrington Performance and Mancini Mopar Parts.

Being put on by Dodge the event definitely is very heavy in the vintage and modern Dodge and other Mopar offerings. The car show held a little bit of everything from a custom Chrysler Newport to a few special manufacturer plate (means internal special build cars)

A sweet green Challenger 50^th anniversary with houndstooth interior, woodgrain accents on the console and gauge cluster, as well as argent accents around the tail lights and grille! The stripe was actually painted on and then clear coated over. The other special car was a newer generation Charger, with factory ’68 Dog Dish caps on steel wheels… and a Hellcat under the hood, but the car looked like a standard lowline Charger. Very weird to say the least!

The entire original “Roadkill” crew was on hand, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan were filming an episode about the event, but could be found signing just about anything that was put in front of them. There was a few of the show’s cars there, including the Hemi Gremmie and Wreck Runner.

They were not alone; Joe Zolper and Cristy Lee from “Garage Squad” were signing and chatting with fans. Joe brought out his Pro-Mod Daytona, but a computer issue caused him to keep blowing burst plates on the car every time he tried to make a run. There was also some of the crew from “Fastest Cars in the Dirty South” were there.

Many of the higher ups at Dodge and Stellantis were on hand, talking with folks and just having a good time. You could sit and watch the drag racing on Woodward Avenue in front of M1, or go to the car show, or go on not one, but two of the Dodge Hellcat thrill rides on site.

As the sun went down on Woodward Avenue, so did the racing. The event had some local vehicles that were setup to shoot flames go up and down the track, and that’s always a highlight. The day turned out beautifully, even though I got there a bit later than I was hoping, driving from Chicago at 4am straight to the event.

I had heard that it was extremely hot the day before. We just lucked out for once, perfect weather and no rain! I highly recommend this to any individual: it usually falls the weekend before Woodward Dream Cruise, which is normally “The Nats” but I feel this is more fun!

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