"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
This Flashback Friday video takes us back to February 11th, 2015, when this video of the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat racing a Corvette Z06 and a Mustang GT500 hit the internet. It isn’t all that old, but it is a pretty awesome video – so it seemed worth featuring. When the Hellcat Challenger and C7 […] More »
For this week’s Flashback Friday video, we take you back to 1977, where western actor Chuck Connors introduces the Dodge Ram Power Wagon. This 30 second spot shows a Dodge D200 breezing through some serious truckin’ action, including driving through the woods, driving up a rocky slope and peaking the large hill thanks to the […] More »
The 2015 Chicago Auto Show opened today and the biggest news for the Chrysler Group thus far is the new 2015 Ram Laramie Limited Package – a new high end luxury trimline that will be available for the Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500. The package will debut first for the 2015 Ram 1500 (shown here), […] More »
This week’s Muddy Monday video takes us to some foreign country, where a 1st gen Dodge Durango is getting the job done in the deep mud. Im not sure where this mudding action took place, but based on the details, I am guessing that it is in a country where the locals speak Russian. In […] More »
This week’s Flashback Friday video takes us back to 1970, where we get to check out a television advertisement for the newest Dodge Charger 500. (Note: Ignore the Dukes of Hazzard title – that is clearly wrong). This commercial walks us through some of the key features of the classic Mopar muscle car while also […] More »
The 2015 Dodge Challenger has been official on sale and being delivered for a few months now and in addition to posting much better numbers than during the same period one year earlier, there has been a stunning shift in take rate of the Hemi powered models, which the V8s outselling the V6s by a […] More »
This week’s Flashback Friday video takes us back to 1970, for the television introduction of the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. In this spot, a witless sheriff that strongly resembles Boss Hogg or Buford T. Justice has pulled over a lovely young lady who happens to be driving a ’70 Challenger R/T Shaker Convertible. He has […] More »