"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 2013 SRT Viper GTS is arguably one of the great Mopar muscle cars of all time and in this week’s Mopar Muscle Thursday feature, we look at the newest Viper GTS lapping the famed Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway courtesy of the folks at Motor Trend. At the helm is Randy Pobst – the same […] More »
When the Xbox One hits the market in late November, Forza Motorsport 5 will launch alongside the new console and today the makers of Forza 5 announced the first vehicle list for the next generation of the legendary driving simulator title with a small collection of high performance Mopars gracing the initial list. Unfortunately, Turn […] More »
The vast majority of the Dodge Ram trucks that we feature on Truckin Fast Wednesdays are heavily modified pickups that are built to go fast with quarter miles times dipping as low as the 8 second range. This week, we look at a 2009 Hemi Ram R/T running in the high 13s which doesn’t seem […] More »
If you are a rabid Chrysler fan who has wanted to invest some money in the company via the stock market, you are in luck as the Chrysler Group announced yesterday that they have officially filed for an Initial Public Offering. Registering with the US Government Securities and exchange Commission (SEC) is the first step […] More »
While all modern Ram pickups come with a standard locking tailgate, the early versions of the 4th generation Ram truck did not come with this handy option as standard equipment. Fortunately, the components that now come standard on the 2013 and 204 Ram will fit on the earlier 4th gen Rams that did not have […] More »
The Dodge Challenger SRT8 shown in the video below is powered by a 6.1L Hemi V8 with 425 horsepower and while that engine makes the Challenger one big, fast car –it also makes it one serious burnout monster. It is unclear whether there is any work done to the Challenger in action in the video […] More »
Plasti-Dip is an inexpensive and easy way to customize the color of your Ram wheels, badges or many other components inside and out and thanks to DF member Shibby927, we have a quick and easy DIY of how to paint your wheels and badges flat black with Plasti-Dip – or any of the other colors […] More »