"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.
Today’s Tech Thread Spotlight features a discussion originally posted by DodgeForum member donkeypunch back in June of 2012, which lists what tires sizes you can run on the 3rd generation Dodge Dakota relative to what type of lift you are running – and how much trimming of body panels you will need to do to […] More »
The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT powered by the Hellcat Hemi is the most powerful V8 vehicle ever produced by the Chrysler Group and today’s Mopar Muscle Thursday clip features the supercharged Mopar muscle car clearing its throat. We don’t get to see the 600+ horsepower Hemi-powered Challenger doing anything other than sitting still while someone […] More »
While a great many of the threads here on DodgeForum are all about fixing or modifying your car, truck or SUV, threads like the 3rd generation Dodge Dakota photo scavenger hunt thread exist just for fun. Having started back in April of 2012, this thread is packed full of images of members’ trucks near a […] More »
The Dodge Ram SRT10 was the fastest production truck ever for a very long time and with the exception of the El Camino-like Holden that has since broken the record, the SRT Ram remains the fastest REAL truck ever. That record was set on a large high speed oval and thanks to the Viper V10 […] More »
The Dodge Neon has become a popular fixture in the low cost used car market and for many people who are buying a Neon from the early 2000s today, their new car might come with the need to do some maintenance. Fortunately, the 2nd gen Dodge Neon Part Numbers, Maintenance Intervals and Fluid Capacities thread […] More »
This video of a Dodge Ramcharger doing what I consider to be the best burnout ever caught on video has made it’s rounds, but somehow it has managed to elude the Tire Shredding Tuesday segment. With almost 29 million views it has been heavily viewed and you may have already seen it in the past […] More »
While we are all here at DodgeForum due to our ownership and/or enthusiasm for the Dodge brand, being a part of the community is a big part of what keeps people around and the 2g Neon Introduction Thread provides new members who own 2g Neon sedans a chance to introduce themselves and their cars. This […] More »