"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 Dodge Dakota RT was well known for being one of the fastest normal production trucks available in the US but for some people, that factory power wasn’t quite enough. Today’s Truckin Fast Wednesday feature looks at one such Dakota RT that is equipped with a custom turbocharger setup that allows this particularly regular cab/short […] More »
The 3rd generation Dodge Durango has a similar “Oil Change Required” message on the dash like so many other new Chrysler Group vehicles sold today. These indicators are great for those people who need to be reminded when to take their Durango to the shop for an oil change, but it can be an annoyance […] More »
We feature lots of videos on DodgeForum which show people doing things with their cars, trucks and SUVs that we would not recommend trying at home – but today’s video of a Dodge Charger RT doing a big, smokey burnout with two girls sitting on the hood is risky enough to warrant an actual warning. […] More »
The Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee are built on the same basic platform and that means that a great many parts are interchangeable – including the high performance braking system from the Grand Cherokee SRT. DodgeForum member SS2RT went through the process of replacing his stock Durango R/T brakes with the Brembo setup that […] More »
The 2014 12 Hours of Sebring race was this past weekend and for the second time in as many races – the SRT Viper GTS-R has beaten the Chevrolet Corvette C7R in the GT LeMans (GTLM) class. The SRT Viper GTS-R race team only sent one car to the Sebring Winter test sessions but it […] More »
My white 1983 Dodge Ramcharger was one of the best vehicles Ive ever owned and watching the slightly newer white Ramcharger ease through the deep mud in this week’s Muddy Monday feature makes me miss my old truck. This particular Ramcharger is obviously fitted with an upgraded suspension setup and some massive mud tires which […] More »
This past weekend marked the on-track introduction of the newest Chrysler Group Pro Stock drag car – this time basing their door slammer on the new Dodge Dart. Realistically, the new Dodge Dart Pro Stock race car is mechanically identical to the Dodge Avenger which it replaced but the new Dart has the distinct front […] More »