"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.
Adding an aftermarket exhaust system to your Ram is one of the best ways to help your engine make some extra power while also adding some attitude via the increased decibel levels and while some people would rather pay a shop to do the work – installing a catback exhaust system is simple enough that […] More »
In the world of automotive modifying, there are a great many people who talk about their future plans but there are even fewer who actually follow through – today’s Cool Thread feature looks at one of our members who followed through on his plans to swap a 5.7L Hemi into his 2005 Dodge Dakota. This […] More »
The new Dodge Dart is a great car with a sharp, sporty exterior, a super high tech interior with tons of space for a compact sedan and drivetrains that help to make the Dart one of the most fuel friendly cars in the US market. Unfortunately, those drivetrains have failed to inspire many critics from […] More »
Today with the start of the 2013 LA Auto Show media days, the Chrysler Group introduced the new 2014 SRT Viper Anodized Carbon Edition – a super sinister special edition supercar that takes the murdered out look to an awesome new level. Based on the 2014 SRT Viper GTS, the Viper Anodized Carbon Edition is […] More »
This week our Truckin Fast Wednesday takes a look at a serious 1977 Dodge Ram D150 drag truck and while we sadly don’t get to see this beast in action, this video offers a great look via a walk around that also offers us a look under the hood of this classic Ram. The brief […] More »
Do you have an annoying squeak coming from the underside of your Dodge Durango? So do lots of people and we have a thread in our first generation Durango section that looks at the various causes of said annoying squeak along with some remedies on how to remedy those problems. Unfortunately, there are a variety […] More »
There are a great many Dodge cars in the past that never got the respect that they deserved and the Dodge Shadow – similar to the one in the video below – is one of those models. We all had a car at some point in our lives that you might be a little embarrassed […] More »