"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 Hellcat Challenger and Charger are among the quickest stock cars sold in the US, with official, NHRA-verified quarter mile times in the low 11s with the stock street tires and official, NHRA-verified quarter mile times in the high 10s with nothing more than stickier tires. However, as so many Hellcat Challenger and Charger owners […] More »
So, I met this Hellcat Challenger owner on Facebook named Mopar Kyle who recently took his 707 horsepower Mopar muscle car to the parking lot of his local Dollarama for some tire slaying action. Specifically, Kyle used the big, open parking lot to cook up some smokey donuts, but that smoke turned to fire when […] More »
Since late last year, the quarter mile record for a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat has stood at 9.71, but last weekend, the Plum Crazy sedan shown doing a burnout above set the new bar for the supercharged sedan – running an awesome 9.58 at 142.94 miles per hour. The Plum Crazy Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat […] More »
One of the most popular attractions at the 2016 Roadkill Nights by Dodge event in Detroit was the Thrill Ride. After a lengthy wait, spectators got to go for a ride with a skilled driver who tossed a high performance Dodge car around a big, open tarmac. Attendees could ride in the Hellcat Challenger, the […] More »
While we have already brought you the digs on the new Ram Rebel TRX Concept with the 6.2L Hellcat Hemi from the Dodge Challenger and Charger, we didn’t have images of the supercharged engine under the hood of this high performance off-road truck. However, I have gotten some images of the Hellcat Hemi in […] More »
This past weekend, a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat owner named Bill Gamble became the first with a manual transmission to break into the 9-second quarter mile range – making him the first manual Hellcat owner in the 9s. Also, on one of his two runs that day, Gamble’s trap speed of 149.88 miles per hour […] More »
The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat isn’t marketed by FCA in Germany, but the German performance experts at GeigerCars has become well known for importing the coolest go-fast American vehicles for European buyers. In addition to importing high performance American vehicles, GeigerCars also has a tuning company which adds their own unique twist to all sorts […] More »