"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.
This week’s Black Friday video features a 1992 Dodge Ram D250 powered by a 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel rolling coal while also reminding us to hold our mobile device horizontally while recording a video. This video is pretty solid, but had the person filming this had just turned their phone on its side, the video […] More »
Earlier this week, we brought you a first look at a few of the Moparized Dodge concepts heading to the 2014 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, including the Dodge Viper ACR Concept and the Dodge Challenger T/A Concept. Both cars look pretty much ready to make the jump from concept to production with a mix […] More »
The next Moparized vehicle that we are previewing here on DodgeForum is the 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Mopar Concept, which is literally just a production grade 2015 Dodge Charger R/T with a list of goodies from Mopar which will all eventually be available through the company’s accessories catalog. While some of the vehicles modified for […] More »
This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday video features a 1997 Dodge Dakota regular cab/short bed picking in action on the quarter mile against a supercharged Ford Mustang GT. Under normal circumstances, we might expect to see a Mustang GT make short work of a Dakota, but this is no normal Dakota pickup. We don’t know what […] More »
This week’s Tire Shredding Tuesday video features a modified Dodge Spirit R/T with a manual transmission making very short work of some old, dry rotted tires. This car obviously has some work done and while there are scattered details in the long chain of comments, it isn’t totally clear what all has been done to […] More »
This week’s Muddy Monday video features a 1st gen Dodge Dakota attacking a seriously deep mud hole – that is really more of a small pond. The driver starts off by driving into the water at fairly high speed, creating a wall of water that pretty much stops the Dakota as a huge crowd looks […] More »
The 2015 Dodge Challenger T/A Concept will make its formal debut next month at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, but I had a chance to meet the lineup of Moparized vehicles early and from that meeting – here is a full complement of information and pictures on the beautiful T/A Concept. Yes, the hood […] More »