"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 Photo of the Week features the red and black Dodge Charger R/T owned by DFer lags2149. In addition to the muscular styling that naturally makes the Charger so hot, this red and black four door muscle car has been upfitted with a molded rear spoiler, rear window louvers, a set of silver thin […] More »
Does one of more of the windows on your 3rd gen Dodge Ram not go up or down like it is supposed to? If so, you may have a problem with the window regulator and while you could easily take it to most shops to have the problem fixed, we have a DIY thread here […] More »
The only thing better than watching a high performance Mopar muscle car tear down the drag strip is watching two high performance Mopars in action on the quarter mile and this week’s Mopar Muscle Thursday clip features two seriously fast classic muscle cars going head to head. In the near lane is what I believe […] More »
One of the most common questions on the forum from those looking to make performance modifications to their Ram or Dakota pertains to how much of a real world impact it will make. Every performance part comes with some promise of power increases but saying that you will pick up 10 or 15 horsepower really […] More »
This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday clip features a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 racing on an 8th mile drag strip against a 4th generation Dodge Viper SRT10 Roadster. At first, that probably sounds like a race that will end up in a Viper handing out a good, sound beating but when you factor in a heavy […] More »
A cold air intake is a great first modification for your Dodge Dakota but there are so many brands on the market – with prices that seem awfully high for what is little more than a 3 inch tube, an air filter and a few couplers – picking the right one can be tricky. For […] More »
I love Dodge Ramchargers whether they are racing, mudding or doing burnouts so when I came across this black beauty powered by a 528 cubic inch stroker motor – it was just too awesome to pass up. While some of our Tire Shredding videos show a Mopar muscle car, truck or SUV sitting still as […] More »