Pontiac may be the best place to spend your birthday.
That is, if you’re a 9-year-old who loves muscle cars — or if you’re turning any age, really — as long as you agree with the sentiment.
The ultimate celebration for the birthday kid, Jamel Grant Jr., was to be found on Aug. 8 at Roadkill Nights: a day-long, Dodge-powered party of drag racing and Detroit muscle culture. The event welcomed visitors for its 11th official year, with burning smoke and squealing tires along Woodward Avenue and the M1 Concourse in Pontiac.
Hosted by Dodge and MotorTrend Magazine, the event offered attendees loud displays of drifting — a wild form of driving that involves sharp turns and skidding back tires — and a chance to look back in homage to muscle cars’ exhaust-popping beginnings. And it allowed at least one family to enjoy a unique birthday memory.
Drifting toward double digits
Jamel Grant Jr.’s T-shirt summed up his priority for the day.
“DO A BURNOUT,” it read. “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY.”
Grant started off his final year in the single digits at the drag racing festival, where a surefire highlight came when a Dodge promoter picked him to skip the line and drift around in a Charger with a professional driver. Grant rode with his dad, Jamel Sr, while his mom and little brother watched with joy.
“It was an amazing experience,” the elder Jamel said. “My girl was talking in line, and the guy with the mic came and found us.” The birthday boy, still absorbing the fun of riding in the newly announced Dodge Charger SixPack, had a shy-but-succinct description of how it all went.
“Good,” he said through a smile.
After the rush, the Grant family walked from the M1 raceway to visit the festival’s truck vendors for some food. Jamel, Jr., clearly with his own set of priorities, took dad to get some airbrushed tattoos first.
A family affair: the living museum of old muscle
For some visiting the festival, coming to Pontiac was a time to sit and reminisce.
Darlene Rozman and her two sons, Chris and Dave, brought their bright red 1969 Dodge Charger R/T for visitors to see among a canopy of historic Dodge muscle cars. In their first year bringing the car to the festival, they said they’re showing off the famous relic in remembrance of husband and father, Marc, who they lost in January.
“Chrysler was looking for a ’69 Charger,” Darlene said. “A friend of ours knew we had one, and helped make it happen.” Marc had spent his career as a Chrysler dynamic technician, and bought the car in 2001.
The Rozmans actually sold the Charger in 2015, but Darlene said it came back to them serendipitously in 2018. “I remember [the man we sold the car to] called, said, ‘Want it back?’ “
The family’s usual event had been the Woodward Dream Cruise, which Darlene and her husband had volunteered in since the ’90s, and later participated in with their car.
“I sold bus tickets,” she said. “We used to park in Berkley and go watch.”
The Dream Cruise on Woodward Avenue is the next Detroit autopalooza on the list this year. The cruise is set for next weekend on Saturday, Aug. 15.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Roadkill Nights fills Pontiac with smoke, hot rubber, squealing tires
Reporting by Harrison Stidolph, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Harrison Stidolph, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
