Fast N’ Loud’s Richard Rawlings stuffs a Hellcat into the wall at Roadkill Nights
As Richard Rawlings staged a Dodge Challenger Hellcat on the Woodward Avenue drag strip at next to Leah Pritchett on Saturday afternoon, he probably wanted to draw a lot of attention with a big burnout. He got the attention of just about everyone at Roadkill Nights 2018, but not in the way he hoped. Fender, meet Wall.
Rawlings, star of the Fast N’ Loud television show on the Discovery Channel, was taking part in a celebrity shootout during Roadkill Nights 2018 in Pontiac, Michigan. One of the showcase, signature elements for the event is the closure of famed Woodward Avenue for drag racing. With the presence of multiple star personalities throughout the day, a showdown shaped up along the 880-foot stretch, with Rawlings lined up against professional NHRA top fuel driver Leah Pritchett.
As the arms dropped, Rawlings used all 707 horsepower on tap to turn the Challenger’s rear tires into a smoke show. Once he made some forward progress, things went sideways—literally. The black Dodge rode the drivers front wheel up the concrete wall separating the racers from fans and spectators. Pritchett powered on to an easy victory.
Fortunately, wall crash was the only incident during the high-speed festival. Unfortunately, the a burst of rain later in the evening made the track virtually undrivable, forcing officials to cut the racing short. Prior to the rain, former professional wrestler Goldberg took home the celebrity victory.
Roadkill Nights was a fitting kick-off to always-magical the Woodward Dream Cruise coming up on Saturday, August 18. And if you’re cruising Woodward ahead of the low-speed Cruise, be careful getting puffed up with prideful tire smoke and exhaust fumes—nobody wants to pull a Rawlings.