"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 Dodge Spirit in the video below does a crazy wooden burnout and if you are asking “what is a crazy wooden burnout,” it is a very simple way to get your not-so-powerful car to do a massive smokey burnout. All you need is a car that would otherwise struggle to spin the tires – […] More »
In the history of Mopar Performance, there is arguably no name that comes to mind more quickly than the Dodge Charger. Introduced for the 1966 model year, the Charger helped to usher in the Mopar muscle car era and it ran through the 1978 model year as a big, bold rear wheel drive 2-door. While […] More »
Have you run into technical difficulties with the air conditioning system in your Dodge Durango but you don’t want to have to deal with the massive costs involved with taking the truck to a shop? DodgeForum may be able to help. Our Moderator shrpshtr325 put together this wonderfully informative thread on how to recognize, diagnose […] More »
The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and the 1970 Plymouth Superbird are arguably the most sought after and most famous of all of the Mopar muscle cars. These cars were originally designed to race in NASCAR but due to production qualification rules, the Chrysler Group built a limited number of the “wing cars” in 1969 and […] More »
The Dodge Dart is known by most American consumers as a super efficient yet adequately sporty compact sedan but before the Dart was the Fiat-inspired compact that we know today – it was one of the original low-cost muscle cars. Those who couldn’t foot the bill for the likes of the Charger or Challenger back […] More »
Earlier today we brought you information on the new Ram 1500 Rumble Bee Concept from this weekend’s Woodward Dream Cruise. This new sport truck is only a concept right now but there doesn’t seem to be many aspects of the Rumble Bee Ram that couldn’t easily arrive in a limited edition production vehicle. While the […] More »
There is no back story to this week’s Muddy Monday feature but with a title like “Death of a Plymouth Acclaim” and the setting of an offroading area – you know that it has to be good. Oddly, this isnt just a couple guys out destroying a car as the Acclaim has obviously been prepped […] More »