{"id":54359,"date":"2021-08-13T23:00:47","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T03:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=54359"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:21:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:21:07","slug":"hardcore-mopar-racers-return-to-roadkill-nights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/events\/2021\/08\/hardcore-mopar-racers-return-to-roadkill-nights.html","title":{"rendered":"Hardcore Mopar®<\/sub> Racers Return to Roadkill Nights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s that time of year, when Woodward Avenue shakes and quivers from the constant pounding of big-block machines cruising up and down this famous thoroughfare. Welcome back to Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge<\/a>. Detroit might have been the birthplace of the automobile, but Woodward Avenue gave the Motor City its street cred as the place for impromptu stoplight-to-stoplight \u201cexhibitions of acceleration.\u201d Car magazines of the era glorified it, while the mainstream media demonized these speed-crazed enthusiasts for their nightly antics that rattled the glass in the homes of middle class and affluent suburbs just north of Detroit. So popular was this movement, Detroit automakers used Woodward Avenue as the backdrop for many of their print and TV ads to appeal to a generation of young car buyers and gearheads. These enthusiasts, armed with cold hard cash in their pockets, were the reason muscle cars in all shapes, sizes and colors began flying off dealership lots. Young drivers behind the wheel of factory fresh muscle cars wearing hood scoops, mag wheels and racing stripes headed off to Woodward Avenue for a night of showing off and burning rubber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Roadrunner<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That might have been a lifetime ago, and time does not stand still for anyone or anything, but the magic of Woodward Avenue still holds a special place for anyone who has high-octane gasoline running through their veins. It\u2019s sacred ground and just one of the many things that bring racers back to Roadkill Nights. We recently chatted with three veterans who have raced their highly fortified Dodge muscle cars at Roadkill Nights in the past. We wanted to get their insight on what it’s like to compete at an event that\u2019s literally held on a public road and the challenges it presents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Charger<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

THOMAS DRAGO \u2013 2015 DODGE CHARGER SRT\u00ae<\/sup> HELLCAT <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Drago is a born and bred Michigander who got his taste for fast Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> vehicles at the young age of 18 racing his 1969 Dodge Super Bee at Milan Dragway. Recently retired from a successful career as an auto technician, he\u2019s not cruising around in a golfcart at some Florida retirement community. Thomas has been busy sharpening the claws on his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to make a more frightful beast for the competition to try and handle. He\u2019s run low tens in the quarter-mile and has recently upgraded the Charger\u2019s rear suspension to plant those wide drag radials firmly on Woodward\u2019s asphalt surface. Thomas has been at every Roadkill Nights event, as has his B5 Blue supercharged machine, featured in numerous Roadkill Night promo videos. When asked what keeps Thomas coming back to Roadkill Nights, he replied, \u201cPride, this car always makes the Dodge list. Our biggest competitors are purpose-built racecars, but I drive my Charger to every event, it\u2019s not a trailer queen. I have buddies with Demons, Hellcats that race at this event, we park together, and we travel together. We are the Brotherhood of Muscle!\u201d Horsepower means nothing if you can\u2019t put it to the pavement and Thomas has been busy testing his Charger with various tunes, tire pressure and burnout techniques at Lapeer Dragstrip in preparation for this year\u2019s Roadkill Nights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vintage<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

LENNY MELTON \u2013 1968 DODGE DART <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By taking a classic 1968 Dodge Dart and infusing it with a 21st <\/sup>century GEN III HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> V8 engine for motivation, Lenny Melton has created the ultimate street machine. The North Carolina resident runs a shop specializing in old and new school Mopar vehicles. His passion for fast cars came from his father when he handed Lenny the keys to the Dart at the young age of 12. Since then, Lenny\u2019s Dart has been transformed into an eight-second drag car that still sees street duty. He\u2019s also passed on his gearhead DNA to his boys, who have now added a modern-day Challenger to their stable of fast cars. Being a seasoned veteran of Roadkill Nights, Lenny is ready to claim another victory like he did back in 2017. \u201cThe first year with the Dart at Roadkill Nights was all about power management,\u201d reflected Lenny. \u201cThe road surface was terrible, but I loved it, as it was really a tuner and driver\u2019s race.\u201d This year, he\u2019s bringing back his deadly Dart, now packing even more power under its lightweight fiberglass hood. \u201cWe have a 410-cubic-inch GEN III HEMI V8 and we\u2019ll be spraying it with Nitrous Oxide for even more power. We\u2019ve nicknamed the engine ‘Dazed and Confused,\u2019” laughed Lenny. \u201cThis new engine combination has a Hellcat block with a custom crank, rods, pistons and has two 950 CFM carburetors mounted on a Tunnel Ram intake manifold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"HEMI<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lenny hopes the new engine package will make around 1,000 horsepower, and judging by the mods he\u2019s made to the car and engine, he should have no problem as he\u2019s very optimistic on how fast his Dart will run. \u201cWe should be in the hunt for the money. It will really depend on how tight Woodward Avenue\u2019s surface is as to how much power we can put down,\u201d said Lenny. \u201cI love the idea of being on Woodward and racing some of the fastest cars in the country on a road everyone grew up hearing about. We\u2019re looking forward to seeing everyone at Roadkill Nights!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

DAVID SHATZER \u2013 2018 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT DEMON <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania, David came home from the hospital in a 1954 Dodge sedan. That\u2019s probably when his love of Mopar vehicles began to seep into his skin. By the mid-1970\u2019s David procured a used Sublime 1970 Challenger R\/T powered by a 440 Six Pack and then a 1971 Plymouth Duster 340, both we\u2019re happy to report his still owns today. David has also added some modern muscle to his fleet that includes a 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat and 2018 Challenger SRT Demon. Like many gearheads that like to noodle on their cars looking for more power, David began to modify the SRT Hellcat and it runs 10.80s consistently. He competed at the first Roadkill Nights back in 2016 with the Challenger SRT Hellcat and formed a common bond with fellow Mopar fanatics, exchanging tuning tips and discussing other enhancements on the 6.2L supercharged HEMI engines that motivate these fast street cars. \u201cThe comradery among the friends I\u2019ve made through the years competing at Roadkill Nights has been great,\u201d said David. \u201cHanging out with fellow SRT owners like Tom Drago, Paul Georges, Simon ‘Phast HEMI\u2019 and others, as well as the opportunities to meet the Dodge executives and SRT engineers, and learn more about these cars, makes this event even better!\u201d This year, David will park the SRT Hellcat and race his Challenger SRT Demon at Roadkill Nights. He\u2019ll have to work on things, getting the rear tire pressure just right for maximum bite, taking some weight out of the car and tuning the Demon\u2019s mighty HEMI engine for the weather conditions. That\u2019s why these hardcore racers go and test before showing up on Woodward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Challenger<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you think these returning Mopar warriors will do at this year\u2019s Roadkill Nights? Stop by and see all the action for yourself as Woodward Avenue will once again shake under the might and brawn of our HEMI engine-powered machines!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year, when Woodward Avenue shakes and quivers from the constant pounding of big-block machines cruising up and down this famous thoroughfare. Welcome back to Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge. Detroit might have been the birthplace of the automobile, but Woodward Avenue gave the Motor City its street cred as the place for impromptu stoplight-to-stoplight \u201cexhibitions of acceleration.\u201d Car magazines of the era glorified it, while the mainstream media demonized these speed-crazed enthusiasts for their nightly antics that rattled the glass in the homes of middle class […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":54356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[497],"tags":[528,1910],"class_list":["post-54359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-drag-racing","tag-grassroots-racing"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/001-lead-image-1.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54359"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54386,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54359\/revisions\/54386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}