Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge moved from downtown Pontiac back to the M1 Concourse, but that wasn’t the only change for 2024. In past years, when the event was held at M1, racing took place on historic Woodward Avenue. This time, racing was held on the long straightaway of the road racing facility. This allowed the event organizers to place the racers’ pits in a place where attendees could check out the racing vehicles while checking out the Cruise-In area, whereas in past years, the area where the race vehicles were parked was off-limits to spectators.
“In its ninth year, MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge continues to evolve and get better and better,” said Matt McAlear, Dodge brand CEO – Stellantis. “From the public debut of the all-new Dodge Charger Daytona and its Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust system, to the Direct Connection Grudge Race, to first-ever Dodge Hornet Rally Rides and drag-racing action inside M1 Concourse, it was another weekend for the history books for the Dodge Brotherhood of Muscle.”
There were two main drag racing classes at 2024 Roadkill Nights – Big Tire and Small Tire – with a $5,000 prize to the winner of the Quick 8 shootout in each class. More than a hundred race vehicles registered to compete for those 16 shootout spots. There was also an additional $5,000 prize for the quickest Dodge product in each of the two main classes, so in total, the racing program had a payout of $20,000. Here are a couple examples of Mopar® racing at the event.
In the Big Tire class, Jim Kline and his 1966 Pontiac Acadian won for the second year in a row, but Kline has also claimed the Roadkill Nights Big Tire class in past years as well. Kline made short work of every competitor in the Quick 8 bracket, running a 4.85 in the finals to take the win and the $5,000 prize.
In the Small Tire class, Mikael Borggren and his legendary 1987 Volvo 240 station wagon also won for the second year in a row, narrowly beating a supercharged Ford Mustang in a very close drag race. Borggren was in the 5.1x range when he claimed the $5,000 prize for his class.
Finally, while neither of the quickest Dodge products were in either of the class finals above, two familiar names took home the $5,000 prize for the quickest Big Tire and Small Tire Dodge entries.
The Quickest Small Tire Dodge – for an incredible sixth year in a row – was Peter Bokedon in his 1972 Dodge Dart. For those wondering, this car is powered by a 408-cubic-inch Mopar V8.
In the Big Tire class, the title of the Quickest Dodge went to Tom Bailey and his record-setting Dodge Durango. Bailey has claimed the Roadkill Nights Big Tire class in past years in his Sick Seconds Camaro, but this year, he was racing his Gen 3 HEMI® engine-powered Durango. In doing so, he was the quickest Dodge driver in the class.
Finally, in addition to the Big Tire and Small Tire classes, 2024 Roadkill Nights had the Hurricane Grudge Match program, which was won by Morgan Evans and her 1987 Dodge D150 pickup.
“We worked so hard over the last two months, and I can’t believe we got here and we ended up winning. The truck worked incredibly, and I couldn’t have asked it to do better,” said Evans. “We built a 1987 Dodge D150 with the new HurriCrate twin-turbo inline six. I love that thing. I can’t get over how well it performed. It’s twerky, and it spools fast.”
In total, 2024 Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge drew more than 40,000 attendees, with more than 300 Cruise-In vehicles joining the 100+ drag racing vehicles and the collection of exhibition vehicles – including burnouts by Matt Hagan and Ida Zetterstrom in their Top Fuel cars and a pair of Dodge Challenger SRT® Demon 170s from Radford Racing School.
Congratulations to all of the winners at 2024 Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge and thanks to everyone who contributed to make the ninth year of the event successful.
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