"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.
There are oddly no tow hook package specifically designed for the 1st generation Dodge Dakota so those owners who want to have a set of hooks to pull out stuck Chevys and Fords will have to rely on some American ingenuity with the use of some non-Dakota specific components. DF’s resident Dakota guru and moderator […] More »
A while back we featured the Superbird-like Dodge Challenger SRT8 that had been stolen in Southern California. Fortunately, that car has been recovered by the police but the attention garnered by the shop who was robbed of that incredible Mopar muscle car – Spankin Time Racing – has an impressive collection of high performance Mopars […] More »
DodgeForum member deke6520 recently bought himself a brand spankin new 2014 Ram 1500 Sport with the 5.7L Hemi and his first stop on the way home was an exhaust shop where he had a Magnaflow true dual exhaust setup installed. The result is a truck that looks great and sounds even better. After getting home, […] More »
If you were hoping to buy a new 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel before the end of winter – you might be out of luck. The new super efficient and super powerful V6 diesel powered Ram 1500 went officially went on sale on Friday, February 7th and by the early afternoon on Monday February 10th, the […] More »
It isnt a Dodge but its hard to be a Mopar lover who doesn’t love the roar of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday feature takes a look at one of those beastly Jeeps racing overseas on a mile long straight track (that also has a quarter mile timing system)against the […] More »
I have seen plenty of trucks with front hitch assemblies on their Dodge Ram pickups but this is the first dual front hitch setup ive ever seen – and I like it. DF member Brandon_0384 put together a slick dual hitch setup that extends through the front of his 3rd generation Dodge Ram 1500 and […] More »
In the world of doing big, smokey burnouts, few can draw more attention than doing one in non-moving traffic like the Dodge Dakota in this week’s Tire Shredding Tuesday video. I should stress that this is likely the most dangerous way to do a burnout since there are so many stationary vehicles sitting around this […] More »