One of the most unique events of the year is MotorTrend presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge, an event that shuts down Woodward Avenue and takes over the M1 Concourse on Saturday, August 13 in Pontiac, Michigan. The single-day event includes legal street racing on Woodward Avenue, mayhem inside the M1 Concourse gates with Dodge, a midway, car show, and many of your favorite TV stars from MotorTrend's original programming.

One of the most anticipated showdowns on Woodward Avenue is the Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Match. Eight social media influencers will be duking it out for a chance to race against HOT ROD Garage's Alex Taylor and Lucky Costa. The influencer class winner will line up against Alex, who won last year's competition, in a winner-takes-all drag race that goes down on Saturday evening.

Related: Can't make it to M1 Concourse for Roadkill Nights 2022? Click here for a free trial to MotorTrend+, and stream the whole event live!

Dodge changes up the Influencer Grudge Race every year, and this year, the power brokers at Direct Connection shipped each contestant a Hellcat crate engine, six-speed manual transmission, and $10,000 to spend on parts and pieces to build a car for the competition.

The rules and stipulations sent Alex and her co-host, Lucky Costa, into overdrive as they decided their build would be covered through several episodes of HOT ROD Garage on MotorTrend TV and MotorTrend+. With just six weeks to find and build a new ride, the team began brainstorming on a vehicle selection.

There were three basic stipulations- the first being it had to be a Dodge product as mandated by the grudge match rules. Next, Alex and Lucky knew they wanted a 1940s or 1950s vintage model that wasn't normally associated with performance. And the third requirement was the vehicle needed a full frame, allowing them to unbolt the body so the team can add a purpose-built chassis under it.

Mike Pantaleo, executive producer of HOT ROD Garage, explains, "We found a 1955 Plymouth Savoy that was somewhat local and the right price, in addition to fitting all of our requirements." The car came complete with a sweet patina finish and low rust, and the team set the doomsday clock at four weeks until ship date.

The tight deadline meant they had to call in reinforcements, and the first one was to Dennis Taylor, Alex's dad, who just so happens to be a master fabricator, car builder, and gnarly drag racer. He booked a ticket to LA and prepared a mental task list for what would be a barn-burning adventure.

Once the original body was removed, the team began laying the frame rails as a starting point, allowing them to build out the rest of the chassis. The studio secured a tube chassis kit; however, Dennis abandoned that idea, only relying on the pre-bent main hoop. He custom built the front suspension and frame, the 8.50-style cage, and rear bracing. It differs than the SFI 25.3 setup in the family's 1955 Chevy, but Dennis told us the Savoy's chassis can be upgraded to match the Chevy down the road.

The opening weeks were spent dealing with COVID-19. First, Lucky was infected and missed the first ten days of the build. He would return after the required quarantine period, only to have the pandemic rear its ugly head at the start of week three. Several members of the cast and crew, including Alex and Dennis, tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, the symptoms were mild, but the set was shut down, forcing the group to move off-site. And Lucky was once again sidelined when the rest of the group got sick, healthy but he was unable to contribute. Work continued in what became known as Quarantine Garage, with only the infected members allowed to work together.

The lack of tools and time began to take its toll on the crew, doubting they were going to meet the deadline that was just two weeks away. It looked bleak until their luck turned around when Gregg Petersen, longtime friend of Dennis, got locked out of a family cruise when he, too, tested positive for COVID-19. Hailing from Orange County, just an hour south of the MotorTrend headquarters, Gregg had two weeks cleared on his schedule, and he was legally allowed to mix with the other infected team members. The bonus: Gregg is well-versed at working with sheetmetal, and he jumped right in building wheel tubs, floors, and other interior panels.

The makeshift safe space kept the project going, as challenging as it was, but they persevered thanks to the tireless efforts by the production assistants keeping the parts coming in for Alex, Dennis, and Gregg to install.

By the fourth week of production, the group returned to the HOT ROD Magazine headquarters, their regular filming location, and the mad thrash began to knock off the remaining few dozen chores. At this point, the Hellcat engine and six-speed transmission were installed in the fresh chassis, the Aeromotive fuel system plumbed, and the Dodge Direct Connection wiring harness fastened into place. The team even installed a Nitrous Outlet throttle body plate nitrous kit in case the competition was getting close. Lucky handled the tedious tasks of running brake lines and wiring. He would bleed the Strange Engineering brakes while Alex began downloading the Dodge-supplied software. Resting in the wings of the shop were Pro Mod style wheels with fresh Hoosier slicks, while the front-runners were wrapped in DOT rubber.

Day-by-day, the list got shorter until it was time to fire up the machine, not the final task but a monumental one that re-energized the group. That came on Thursday night, some 36 hours before the scheduled pick-up time. It might have looked promising from social media posts, but the car was far from being ready for its ride across the country.

The team burnt up the next 24 hours with more prep work, and by Friday night, they strapped the Savoy to the rollers at Balto Performance. Initial warm up runs were cut short when the hydraulic throw out bearing seal began leaking. Dennis, Alex, Mike, and Gregg continued to prep the vehicle while they waited for the spare parts- doors were mounted, the trunk secured, trans tunnel completed, chassis scaled and adjusted, and they even swapped a tire when a brand-new Hoosier slick got cut by accident.

The transporter was delayed a day, and the team finally got to run the Savoy on the dyno. The results were worth the wait: 988 rwhp and slightly over 1,000 ft-lb of torque from an E85-burning Hellcat engine with a little hit of nitrous oxide.

As of this writing, the Savoy is headed east to M1 Concourse, and while not race ready, the car is close enough, so they will be attending a private test session at Milan Dragway a few days before the show. The episodes of HOT ROD Garage have been completed, and Alex is focused on defending her title in the influencer grudge race.

Tickets are available now for MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge, taking place at M1 Concourse (Pontiac, Michigan) on Saturday, August 14 with drag racing, Dodge exhibition rides, and much more.