Flashback Friday: Top Fuel cars do burnouts down Woodward Ave

This weekend marks the kickoff for festivities leading up to the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, a massive hotrod gathering in Detroit, the de facto home of the domestic Muscle Car. Gearheads from all across the nation and even from outside the US converge on Detroit for a weeklong celebration of the American muscle that shaped the way many of us look at cars as more than a means to get from point A to point B.

2018 marks the twenty-third edition of the Woodward Dream Cruise, an event that started as a fundraiser for a soccer field and exploded into one of the largest automotive events in the nation. Ever since the first event unexpectedly drew an insane quarter million participants, the event has become the standard by which all other “cruise in” type events are judged. Drawing an expected 1.5 million people and some 40,000 vintage cars, the WDC will once again turn Detroit into the glistening, exhaust fume-fueled Mecca of Motoring it once was.

Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge is sort of the rallying cry for the masses, held the weekend before the annual cruise. The hosts of Motor Trend’s popular Roadkill series David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan will serve as the event’s hosts while NHRA announcer and Bangshift co-founder Brian Lohnes will handle the play by play of the drag racing taking place right there on Woodward Avenue.

Our very own Leah Pritchett will have her Dodge/Mopar Top Fuel dragster along with DSR teammate Matt Hagan and his Dodge/Mopar sponsored Dodge Charger Funny Car. The two will fire up their 11,000 horsepower rocket ships and make long, smoky burnouts right there on the street, a huge thrill for the throngs of fans on site for the event.

General admission is only $10, so if you’re in the area this weekend, be sure and stop by and check out all the action!