"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 Chrysler Group issued a statement yesterday explaining that the production of the 2014 Chrysler 200 and 2014 Dodge Avenger would end in December so that the company can begin preparing the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant to build two new vehicles – the 2015 Chrysler 200 and a currently unnamed midsized sedan that will replace […] More »
A few months back we featured a video of a Ramcharger beating up a Nissan 350Z on the quarter mile and I have found another video of that same Ramcharger – this time nearly running in the 12s. This video was posted by a different YouTube user than the clip of this brawny Dodge SUV […] More »
In the history of Mopar Muscle, there have been no cars that pack as much power as the Dodge Viper SRT10 and few cars that would blow away a set of tires like the mighty Viper. This week’s Tire Shredding Tuesday feature look at one such Viper from the 2008 model year doing a quick […] More »
Last week, our question of the week looked at whether the newly announced 392 cubic inch Hemi in the 2014 Ram HD should have had more power and this week – we shift gears quite a bit as we look at the power output of the 2013 SRT Viper. The Viper is the most powerful […] More »
The folks at Consumer Reports have announced their results for 2013 model year pickup truck testing and for the first time ever – the Ram 1500 has come out on top. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise when you consider that the 2013 Ram 1500 has been named the top truck by pretty much […] More »
This week’s Muddy Monday feature takes a look at a 2nd gen Dakota as it digs its way through a trench of thick, nearly black mud. While the majority of our featured offroading vehicles are powered by big, beefy American V8s – this little Dakota is powered by a V6. Best of all, this Dakota […] More »
The Dodge Dart rally teams finally arrived to race on US soil last week but in the end – the Global RallyCross event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway went just as poorly for the Mopar rallycross cars as the rest of the events this season. The good news is that Travis Pastrana made it through […] More »