Inside the Toolboxes of Roadkill Nights Drag Racers

2 min readIn early August, I attended the 11th Annual Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge drag racing event in Pontiac, Michigan. At the event, hosted by our sister publication MotorTrend, I had the opportunity to see dozens of amateur drag racers with genuinely impressive cars. It was clear to me almost immediately that they spend a lot of time in the garage making serious modifications to their cars to get them down the strip as quickly as possible.I was curious what tool brands these racers use, and so I asked them. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that so few of them would actually name high-dollar brands like Snap-on, but given the amount of wrenching required to compete in this event, perhaps my expectations were somewhat overblown. However, the tools many cited are ones that you and I likely already have in our toolboxes.Colin AylesworthMost of the cars racing at Roadkill Nights were stripped of all but the essentials inside.The majority of the cars brought to the event are not new. Many appeared to be at least a decade old and completely optimized for drag racing, with the interior stripped of all but the essentials, and they were fitted with custom suspension systems and highly modified engines.A lot of the work done on these cars is delicate, yet as it turns out, most of the tools they use are hand tools found in any good mechanic’s tool set. For the amateur drag racers, it’s enough to handle essential components of engine and suspension work.Many of the racers told me they use brands such as Craftsman, Harbor Freight, Kobalt, and Hart. Some did mention Snap-on, but just as many mentioned these more accessible brands. One racer did specifically mention that he uses a Milwaukee-powered ratchet wrench due to the amount of time it saves him in tightening and loosening hardware.Tony CarrickRoadkill Nights participants cited common tools from brands like Craftsman (pictured) as what they reach for most often.Reasons given for these brands include affordability and durability for the dollar. One racer told me that he uses Harbor Freight tools because they do what he needs and allow him to put more money into other aspects of the car and his racing hobby.It makes sense. Unless you are a full-time racer with a sky-high budget, there’s no reason that an affordable tool set can’t do everything you need it to. It goes to show that even basic tool sets are highly capable, and also that car racing as a hobby is more accessible than you might think.Tool Sets We RecommendCraftsman 159-Piece Metric and Standard (SAE) Mechanics Tool SetDeWalt 142-Piece Mechanics Tools Kit and Socket SetNow 38% OffKobalt 158-Piece Household Tool SetColin Aylesworth attended Binghamton University and is a Deputy Editor with the Gear team at Popular Mechanics and Runner’s World, where he has been since 2022. Prior to joining Hearst Magazines, he worked for 11 years at U.S. News and World Report on the autos team. His personal pursuits fit in well with the work he does for PM and RW. Aylesworth was on his college’s club rowing team and has maintained a routine running habit through most of his adult life as a means of getting exercise and spending time outdoors. Running creates a hearty appetite, which brings us to Popular Mechanics. That publication's expertise in the area of grilling is relatable to Aylesworth, who is an adherent to charcoal grilling. In fact, he’s been primarily using the same Weber charcoal kettle he bought on Craigslist in 2012. Aylesworth also has experience in the lawn mower industry. Not only has he been mowing his and neighbor’s lawns during adolescence, one of his more recent endeavors is a side gig of repairing and restoring gas lawn mowers given up by their previous owners. Since joining PM, he has gotten more involved with the publication’s mower testing efforts and especially enjoys testing out new electric and zero turn mowers.