"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.
While no details about the car itself have been offered, SRT boss Ralph Gilles has confirmed that the next generation Dodge Challenger will make its grand debut at the 2014 New York International Auto Show roughly one year from now. Based on the timing of a late March or early April 2014 debut of the […] More »
This week’s Mopar Muscle Thursdays feature looks at an older Dodge Viper RT/10 in action on the drag strip against a newer Ford Mustang GT with the 5.0L V8 that I would guess is a 2011 model year car. Nothing is known about these two cars shy of the obvious so we don’t know what […] More »
In the battle of the modern diesel powered pickups, the real contenders are the Ford PowerStroke and the Rams Cummins Turbo Diesel – and the video below shows one Ram warrior handing a sound beating to a vastly less modified Ford Super Duty. In fact, the Ford in the video is so much slower that […] More »
The Dodge Viper GTS is one of the most incredible American performance cars of all time but sadly, many of them are sold to old guys who will never give them the good thrashing that they were intended to face. Luckily, the driver of the Viper shown in the video below is not one of […] More »
We all know how tough Dodge trucks are but this week’s Muddy Mondays segment shows that they are unstoppable – even when faced with drastic mechanical failure. This super modified Ramcharger digs through the mud for several minutes and after the first few minutes, the constant high RPMs proved to be too much for the […] More »
As expected, the Chrysler Group rolled out the refreshed 2014 Dodge Durango this week at the 2013 New York Auto Show. While the 2014 Durango looks a great deal like the current model, the refreshed SUV sports a revised front fascia, new headlights, a new rear end (with new tail lights), a high tech interior […] More »
This week for our Black Friday feature, I asked myself “what is better than watching a Cummins Turbo Diesel powered Ram putting on a smoke show?” The answer is simple…watching three Cummins Rams – one each from the last three generations – all enriching the atmosphere with some thick, sooty diesel smoke. This video shows […] More »