"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.
There are arguably few pickup trucks that look more natural as a drag race vehicle than the 2nd generation Dodge Dakota and the Dak featured in this week’s Truckin’ Fast Wednesdays video is about as good as it gets. We don’t know a whole lot about this Dakota shy of the fact that it is powered […] More »
News that the Dodge Dart GT might not arrive until the 2014 model year disappointed some prospective buyers last month but in order to make sure that buyers have a shot at a 2013 Dart GT, Chrysler has decided to extend the 2013 production run. Now that production has been extended, Dodge brand President and CEO […] More »
The Chrysler “K Car” is one of the least respected vehicles in the company’s storied history- even though many in the auto industry credit the long list of cars that rode on some version of the Chrysler K Platform with saving the company in the 1980s. The biggest reason for the K Cars being so […] More »
The introduction of the Dodge Dart brought about an impact that many people didn’t expect – a huge spike in sales of the midsized Dodge Avenger. While many people believed that the introduction of the sportier, more efficient and higher tech Dart would overshadow the aging Avenger in showrooms around the country, the opposite seems to […] More »
Even though most mudding is best done in four wheel drive, this week’s Muddy Monday video features a 1993 Dodge Dakota digging through the mud in rear wheel drive. Mind you, this Dakota is a 4×4 model but this video shows that even the 4×2 guys can have fun in the mud – although it […] More »
The Chrysler Group has been the strongest automaker doing business in America with a currently endless chain of year over year gains each month. This means that in the month being discussed, the company sold more vehicles than they did in the same month the previous year. In May 2013, the good times for the people under […] More »
I love watching dyno videos and this week’s feature video showing a 1600 horsepower Hemi Challenger on the rollers is very interesting – to say the least. Seeing a car like this 1970 Challenger R/T powered by an obviously heavily built Hemi topped by a roots style supercharger in action is awesome and while we […] More »