Chevy Power Dominates Roadkill Nights by Dodge

Chevy performance was on display with all eight vehicles in the Roadkill Nights Small Tire class packing LS power.

In mid-August, the fifth annual Roadkill Nights by Dodge automotive festival was held at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan. While Dodge sponsors the event, it is open to all makes and models, both in the Show-N-Shine field and in the race field. That was particularly clear when the racing program got to the Quick Eight competitions for the Small Tire class, with seven Chevrolet products and an AMC powered by a boosted LSX.

Chevy Shines at Roadkill Nights

If you are not familiar with Roadkill Nights by Dodge, it is a huge event in Metro Detroit that is centered around the legal street racing program. Organizers close off a long stretch of Woodward Avenue and put up barriers and a timing system so scores of cars, trucks and SUVs can do battle on the public road without concern of being arrested. Since the racing takes place on the street, it is grudge style, without announced elapsed times on the eighth mile track, and for 2019, every race began with an arm drop.

Elapsed times are not announced, but they are recorded to establish the Quick Eight in each class, and in the Small Tire class, seven of the eight were Chevy products.

The eighth was an AMC AMX with a boosted LSX, and in speaking with one of the track workers, we were told that all eight of the Small Tire Quick Eight were packing an LS-based engine with nitrous oxide or forced induction. We don’t know that for sure, but with seven Chevy products running the eighth mile in the low-six-second range, it seems likely.

Finally, since there are no run sheets or official roster of racers, we don’t have the names of all of these drivers, but we were able to record each of the seven races to my own YouTube channel that determined the $10,000 winner of the Small Tire class.

Roadkill Nights Small Tire Quick Eight

While we don’t have the qualifying times or the names of the drivers of the Small Tire Quick Eight, we know the lineup of vehicles. This includes a 1967 Chevy Malibu Sedan, a pair of fourth generation Camaros, a second generation Camaro, two Malibus from the 1980s, an S10 pickup and the aforementioned AMX.

In the first round of eliminations, the 1967 Malibu sedan took on a fourth gen Camaro, one of the 1980s Malibus took on the other fourth gen Camaro, the second gen Camaro took on the S10 and the 1981 Malibu took on the AMX.

In the battle between the 1967 Malibu sedan and the white fourth gen Camaro, the newer car held an early lead, but the big classic grabbed the win on the big end.

Next, the black fourth gen Camaro took on the rough-looking 1980s Malibu and while the boxy car from the ‘80s held a big early lead, the newer car came charging hard at the end to take the win.

The race between the second gen Camaro and the S10 got off to a great, even start, but the pickup managed to pull ahead for the win.

Finally, the strangest run of the first round came between the 1981 Chevy Malibu and the LS-powered AMC. As you can see in the video below, the driver of the Malibu had all sorts of problems cleaning off the tires and when he was finally forced to stage, the driver most certainly left before the arm drop, but the driver was still given the win to move onto the next round.

In the second round of Small Tire eliminations, the 1981 Malibu that had burnout and starting issues in the first round took on the black fourth gen Camaro. The older Chevy left on time on this run, taking an early lead and never looking back.

In the other half of the second run, the S10 took on the 1967 Malibu sedan. The truck grabbed the early lead and the big sedan appeared to be coming on hard at the end, but the turbocharged pickup got the win and the pass to the finals.

In the finals, the 1981 Chevy Malibu took on the turbocharged S10. After being lucky to get out of the first round, the Malibu driver grabbed an early lead that became a huge lead when the S10 ran into traction issues, giving the Small Tire win and the check for $10,000 to Alen Danial.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy each run from the Roadkill Nights Small Tire Quick Eight shootout, dominated by vehicles packing Chevy LS power.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com