"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.
The EPA has announced the fuel economy numbers for the 2015 Dodge Charger SRT lineup including both the 392 Hemi and the new Hellcat Hemi and, not surprisingly, the Charger offers the exact same official fuel economy figures as the 2015 Dodge Challenger with the same engines and transmission. First up, the 2015 Dodge Charger […] More »
This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday video features a non-traditional Dodge truck, in the form of a super modified Rampage. The Rampage was a front wheel drive unibody utility version of the 1980s Dodge Charger – sort of like a pint sized El Camino from the Chrysler Corporation. It wasn’t much of a performer in stock […] More »
This week’s Tire Shredding Tuesday video features a 2013 Dodge Dart Turbo with the manual transmission doing a burnout. There aren’t a great many new Dart burnouts online and most of them aren’t worth watching, but this bright blue Dart uses the 1.4L turbocharged engine to put a serious smokin’ to the front tires. At […] More »
The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is billed by GM as the most track capable Corvette of all time and as the first examples of the car nicknamed “The Big Nasty” have hit the streets around the country, we have our first video of the C7 Z06 racing a Gen 5 Viper. Even though the Z06 […] More »
This week’s Muddy Monday video features a 2nd gen Dodge Dakota that has been transformed into a monster truck and like a proper monster truck, this 2g Dakota even has a name painted on the side – Relentless. Sure, the only thing about this Dakota that would be shared with a production vehicle is the […] More »
This week’s Black Friday video features a 1995 Dodge Ram pickup that has very obviously been modified for some serious drag racing duty and rather than the predictable Magnum V8 or Hemi, this regular cab, short bed Ram truck is powered by a 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel. This video begins with a very lengthy walk […] More »
This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday video features a Dodge Dakota participating in a Tough Truck race, but unlike the majority of our Tough Truck/Rough Truck features where we watch a tired old pickup face its final high flying moments – this Dakota is far better suited for the dirt-jump action. As you can see in […] More »