July 31, 2023 , Auburn Hills, Mich. – MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge is returning for its eighth edition on Saturday, August 12. A media-only preview of the Dodge brand’s Roadkill Nights adrenaline-filled horsepower festival, which is moving to a new location in downtown Pontiac, is set for Friday, August 11. New for this year, a special concert performance will close out the brand’s one-day celebration of horsepower.
MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge media preview opportunities include:
- Interview opportunities with Dodge executives, MotorTrend Group executives and online automotive personalities
- 2023 Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Race pairs an experienced drag racer and online automotive builder (the mentor) with a less experienced online builder/racer (the rookie); teams will reveal their race vehicles and be available for media interviews
- Media can participate in Dodge drift rides in Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats
WHERE
Pontiac City Square
50881 Woodward Avenue
Pontiac, MI 48342
WHEN
Friday, August 11, media-only preview
Saturday, August 12, main event day
WHO
Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer, Stellantis
For Dodge interview requests, please contact Dave Elshoff, david.elshoff@stellantis.com
Bill Waldman, Group VP Automotive Sales
Karen Brown, VP Events
KJ Jones, MotorTrend Livestream Host
For MotorTrend interview requests, please contact Betsy Bennett, betsy_bennett@motortrend.com
SCHEDULE
Friday, August 11 – MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge press preview:
- 10:30 a.m. – Gates open to media
- 11 a.m. – Roadkill Nights news conference
- Opening remarks by Dodge Brand CEO Tim Kuniskis, reveals of Direct Connection Grudge Race vehicles
- 11:45 a.m.
- Media interview opportunities, including MotorTrend influencer interview opportunities
- Dodge drift rides open for media
- Lunch available
- 1:30 p.m. – Event concludes
Saturday, August 12 – MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event*:
- 10 a.m. – Gates open to the public; Dodge Driving Experiences open/MotorTrend merchandise tent open
- 11 a.m. – Drag racing begins – open qualifying sessions
- 1:30 p.m. – MotorTrend Talent Showdown
- 3 p.m. – Open drag racing qualifying concludes
- 3:30 p.m. – Primal RC Cars exhibition run
- 3:40 p.m. – Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Race begins
- 4 p.m. – Top 8 Big Tire/Small Tire announced
- 4:20 p.m. – Opening ceremonies begin
- 4:30 p.m. – Top 8 Big Tire/Small Tire qualifying
- 4:45 p.m. – Mike Mantel Wheelstander exhibition run
- 5:30 p.m. – Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Race finals
- 6 p.m. – Dodge Driving Experiences close
- 6:45 p.m. – Top 8 Shootout
- 7:30 p.m. – Drag strip closes
- 8 p.m. – Concert begins
- 9 p.m. – Concert concludes/gates close
*Schedule subject to change
MEDIA PARKING
Friday/Saturday: Information on parking for the Roadkill Nights media preview will be shared closer to the event. Staff will be on-site to direct
MEDIA RSVP
Please RSVP to Darren Jacobs at darren.jacobs@stellantis.com
EVENT DETAILS
MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge is taking street-legal drag racing on famed Woodward Avenue to a new location at the center of downtown Pontiac, Michigan, as well as growing the overall footprint of the one-day horsepower festival. The new starting line for street-legal drag-racing competition will move to the corner of Woodward Avenue and W. Pike St. in Pontiac. The popular enthusiast event, scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 12, 2023, set a one-day attendance record of more than 40,000 attendees in 2022, and will bring tens of thousands of gearheads to downtown Pontiac.
The event will mark its second stop of 2023 with the visit to Pontiac. Dodge Last Call Powered by Roadkill Nights Las Vegas, held at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 20, 2023, brought the horsepower festival out west for the first time and served as the setting for the helicopter-drop reveal of the 1,025-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, the seventh and final Dodge “Last Call” special-edition vehicle to be revealed.
In addition to the Direct Connection Grudge Race and street-legal drag racing in Big Tire and Small Tire classes, the second Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event of 2023 will feature a classic and modern muscle car cruise in, Dodge Hellcat Thrill Rides, an all-new Dodge Hornet drive, Dodge Demon drag race simulators, Dodge vehicle displays including the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept, Dodge product displays, Direct Connection performance parts, RC car demonstrations, a vendor midway, beer gardens, entertainment, food trucks, celebrity appearances and more.
Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with a lineup that delivers unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.
Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT Hellcat versions of the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Dodge Durango, as well as an R/T performance hybrid version of the all-new Dodge Hornet, representing the brand’s first-ever electrified performance vehicle. Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock; the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world; and the 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever; and best-in-class standard performance in the compact utility vehicle segment with the Dodge Hornet. Combined, these four muscle vehicles make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.
In 2022, the Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market), making it the only domestic brand ever to do so three years in a row. In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS).
Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
Follow Dodge and company news and video on:
Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
Direct Connection: www.DCPerformance.com
DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dodgeofficial
Twitter: www.twitter.com/dodge and @StellantisNA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA