"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.
One of the best parts about doing a big smokey burnout is creating a huge cloud of smoke that lingers for a while, but I would bet that the burnout smoke created by this Dodge Charger took a very long time to dissipate. As you can see, this Charger is located in a parking garage, […] More »
While today’s featured Cool Thread doesn’t include a Dodge vehicle, it does include the 6.1L Hemi from the SRT Charger and Challenger, the Shaker style hood scoop from a Dodge Challenger and a Plymouth Prowler – one of the coolest factory hot rods of all time. The Prowler came with a spunky V6 engine that […] More »
The Chrysler Group was looking for a fitting way to help the Dodge brand celebrate its 100th birthday last week and in addition to putting together a very impressive book that chronicles pretty much every Dodge vehicle since 2014, the company rolled out some of the most important concept and production vehicles in their history […] More »
This week’s Muddy Monday segment features a pair of super stock mud bogger Dodge Ram pickups with all of the action shot from far away on a GoPro and then in close up, high definition and slow motion. The footage of these two Ram trucks ripping through the thick, sloppy mud would be cool if […] More »
There have been a great many incredibly powerful high performance cars built by the Detroit automakers over the past 100 years, but no street legal car built by Ford Motor Company or General Motors has ever had as much power as the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. With 707 horsepower, this new Challenger is the […] More »
While I don’t think that I have ever featured a non-Chrysler Group vehicle or thread on the DF Front Page, today’s Cool Thread feature focuses on a car that at one point was a cousin to the Dodge brand prior to a messy divorce. Norge is a proud Dodge owner but while living overseas, he […] More »
The 3rd generation Dodge Durango has a huge cargo bay that can fit all sorts of items, but the lack of proper cargo net attachments can send your items falling into the street, parking lot or driveway when you pop the hatch. I have tested several 3rd gen Durango models and when using the remote […] More »