"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 Dart has been in a bit of a sales lull over the past few months but in August 2013, the sporty little compact sedan posted a new record sales month with 7,922 units sold around the country. The previous monthly sales record for the modern Dart sedan came in February 2013 when 7,720 […] More »
This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday feature takes a look at an awesome regular cab 2nd generation Dodge Dakota pickup in action on an eighth mile drag strip – with a resulting time of 7.29 miles per hour. A simple conversion shows that this Dakota would be capable of running in the 11.30 range in the […] More »
We have looked at other before and after threads in the past and this week, we look at a before and after thread from our 2nd generation Dodge Dakota section. This thread invites members with a 2g Dakota to post pictures of their trucks when they first got them (presumably stock or near stock) and […] More »
In most cases, a burnout video with the claim of being ‘the best’ features a car doing a seemingly endless burnout with a result of blown tires or the sun being blocked out but this video showing a 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 in action might just be the best example of a Viper burnout video […] More »
Like many modern ball joint setups, the units found on the 2nd generation Dodge Dakota pickups are not greasable and the inability to keep those ball joints properly lubricated causes advanced wear. Taking your Dakota to a dealership to have the ball joints replaced can be very costly but with some basic tools and a […] More »
Earlier today we talked about the rumors that Dodge is considering bringing back the Scat Pack from the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, in addition to a lineup of specially marketed vehicles, Chrysler also introduced the Scat Pack Club where special access to performance packages from Mopar, a newsletter (technically two of them) and branded […] More »
This week’s Muddy Monday feature video takes a look at a 2nd gen Ram racing through a purpose race venue filled with thick, deep mud. There is no information to go with this video but we can guess that this Ram has been modified to handle this type of mud track so handily and while […] More »