"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.
This past weekend marked a rare occurrence in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series – neither the Pro Stock or Funny Car classes were won by someone piloting a Dodge race car. The success of multiple drivers in each of those two branded classes has made for a great 2013 championship season and Dodge […] More »
The Chrysler Group debuted the new Ram 1500 Rumble Bee Concept last month at Detroit’s Woodward Dream Cruise and after a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the viewing public, the company has planning conversations with dealerships around the country to get their thoughts on a possible production model based on the Ram Rumble Bee […] More »
The Dodge Dart race teams of the Global RallyCross series took to the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway this past weekend with their “normal” drivers in place and the hopes of great things but in the end – the race went just as poorly as the rest of the events this season. Even with […] More »
Many of our Muddy Monday features show modified Ram trucks that are usually a little older playing in the mud but this week’s piece stars what looks to be a fairly stock 2011 Ram 1500 in some muddy action. Based on the ride height and what appear to be the stock 20 inch wheels, this […] More »
Nissan Motors announced recently that the next generation of their slow-selling Titan half ton pickup will feature a new Cummins V8 diesel engine. This news angered some Mopar faithful who were shocked to hear that the folks from Cummins would sully their good name by climbing into bed with the likes of the Titan. It […] More »
Ben Keating and Riley Technologies are teaming up to put together the first new SRT Viper GT3-R race team with a planned debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Keating, who runs Tomball Dodge in Tomball Texas and is responsible for a huge number of Viper sales each year, was incredibly successful in the Dodge […] More »
I love drag racing and I love watching diesel powered Dodge Ram trucks billow smoke so when you combine the two and add in the fact that the Ram smoking its way down the track in the video below is beating up on a classic Ford (technically Mercury) muscle car – this makes for a […] More »