"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.
Even though the modern Dodge Charger has only existed since being introduced for the 2006 model year, Chrysler has offered up an impressive collection of packages in those 7 going on 8 model years. In our Dodge Charger section we have a “show off thread” with images of member owned Chargers and while the Charger […] More »
One of the more prevalent complaints about Dodge Ram and Dakota pickups along with the older Durango SUVs is that the transmissions don’t always hold up to years of severe abuse. I know the problem all too well Ive dealt with a transmission failure in our 94 Ram 1500 Sport and I can tell you […] More »
This week’s Tire Shredding Tuesday feature takes a look at a 1970 Dodge D100 pickup powered by a 350 horsepower 440 cubic inch big block V8 that is destroying its tires in fantastic fashion. Details beyond the year, model and engine specs are nonexistent but based on the wording at the beginning of the video […] More »
One of the fun parts of offroading is getting stuck and working to dig your way out but that comes with the risk of getting too stuck to get out on your own – which is what appears to be happening to the 3rd gen Ram 2500 in action in this video. This Ram HD […] More »
Since being introduced for the 1992 model year, the Dodge Viper has been one of the most powerful American cars ever and over the past 20+ years, the Viper become one of the most respected supercars in the world. Although the current Viper definitely harkens back to previous generations for its exterior design, the 2013 […] More »
Im a sucker for a great looking 1st generation Ram pickup and the 1991 D150 owned by DF member dptyscott is not just great looking but it also has a great story. The current owner of the truck inherited the 91 Ram D150 when his nephew Donnie passed away and when Donnie’s parents gave the […] More »
In my weekly search for crazy Cummins Turbo Diesel powered Ram trucks blackening the sky, I frequently come across clips of Cummins powered dragsters and this week, we look at a Dodge Charger funny car in action on the drag strip with a heavily modified Cummins tucked under the lightweight composite body. We don’t know […] More »