"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.
Whether you have owned your 1st generation Dodge (or Chrysler or Plymouth) Neon for years or you just picked one up on the cheap, today’s Cool Thread feature looks at a thread that can answer an incredible variety of questions pertaining to the original Neon lineup. Want to know when the Neon production began? Want […] More »
This week’s Mopar Muscle Thursday feature takes a look at a Plum Crazy 1971 Dodge Demon 340 in action on the 8th mile against what appears to be a pretty heavily modified Ford Fox Body Mustang. There are no details about either of the two cars but based on looks, we would guess that the […] More »
The 1st generation Dodge Neon was an awesome little car and it has become a popular choice on the used car market for those looking for a very inexpensive daily driver or a weekend track toy. Unfortunately, these cars are getting a little long in the tooth and as vehicles get older, more common issues […] More »
While you likely already noticed, the Ram and Ford trucks in the image above and the video arent real trucks – they are electric small scale children’s vehicles. However considering that so many of the members here have kids and considering how awesome these two “toy” trucks are, this video seemed like a fitting feature […] More »
Are you looking to do some work on your 2nd gen Ram and you have some questions about what you are going to get into when you get to tearing the truck apart? A Ram service manual is the key to doing any job to the specifications required by the Chrysler Group engineers but if […] More »
This week’s tire shredding Tuesday looks at a first generation Dodge Viper RT10 Roadster somewhere in the Netherlands doing a big, nasty burnout at what looks to be a pretty significant car show. The video starts by showing this bright red Viper roadster sliding sideways as the driver destroys the rear tires before getting off […] More »
Have you ever been perusing DodgeForum, looking through threads about your Ram and seen an abbreviation that you didn’t understand? Are you unsure of what IAC, NV2500, SWB, cat or some other term means in a thread or post? If you…you are in luck as our 2nd gen Ram truck section has a full list […] More »