"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.
For the third year in a row, the Chrysler Group offered up one of the longest – and perhaps one of the most powerful – commercials during the SuperBowl. As was the case with the 2012 “Halftime in America” ad featuring Clint Eastwood and the 2013 “Farmers” ad, Chrysler purchased a 2 minute commercial slot […] More »
Our newest Photo of the Week feature takes a look at the 2013 Dodge Journey SXT Blacktop owned by DF member bigunclejethro. We don’t feature a great many Journeys on the site but that would change quickly if more of them had such a sharp exterior design. The bright red paint and the contrasting black […] More »
While the initial stages of this video make it hard to tell what we are watching, the massive plume of black smoke makes it very clear that a Cummins Turbo Diesel powered Dodge Ram is off in the distance. 24 seconds or so into the video you can see a bit of smoke towards the […] More »
If you have ever wanted to ride along in a 2013 Dodge Challenger R/T Classic as it launched hard from a stop and rocketed up to 60 miles per hour in under 5 seconds you are in luck as this week’s Mopar Muscle Thursday feature is an in-car view of the 5.7L Hemi-powered muscle car […] More »
As the owner of a 3rd gen Ram 1500 Quad Cab with the folding flat load floor I can testify that this is a handy feature whether you are moving big objects like a new television or smaller things like groceries. The flat load floor also allows me to put down some blankets where my […] More »
Do you have a 2010 or newer Dodge Ram pickup and you have wondered about recalls, technical service bulletins (TSB) or rapid response transmittals (RRT) for your truck? Perhaps you have questions about a specific recall or RRT that was issued for your Ram and you want to ask the forum rather than talking to […] More »
If you have never heard of tuff truck racing, it is a form of racing where people race trucks and SUVs around a tight motocross track and this week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday clip features a 1st generation Dodge Durango partaking in a tuff truck race. There are tons of tuff truck races on YouTube and […] More »