"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 seems to be this misconception that the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is a bear to drive due to the 275 rear tires and the combination of 707+ horsepower and 650+ lb-ft of torque. In reality, the Hellcat is a remarkably easy-to-drive muscle car considering the power levels, and today I bring you a video […] More »
Last weekend, a new record was set for the world’s quickest Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with the 6-speed manual transmission, as Bill Gamble and his built Mopar muscle laid down an awesome 10.2 at 140.5 miles per hour. On that run, Bill pulled a 1.49 60 foot time and anyone who has spent any time […] More »
Dodge has long offered the Charger and Challenger with exterior colors which are named after classic Chrysler Group colors, but for the 2017 model year, those uniquely named paint options will be extended to the Durango, the Grand Caravan and the Journey. Granted, the Journey, Durango and Grand Caravan don’t get as many eye-catching colors […] More »
The results of Car & Driver’s Lightning Lap 10 were published in the October 2016 issue (on newsstands now) and yesterday, the C&D crew posted the videos from all of LL10 – including the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR and the 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. In case you hadn’t heard, the Viper ACR turned the […] More »
According to a handful of insider reports, the Dodge Durango will finally be offered in high performance SRT trim for the 2018 model year – likely offering comparably performance to the current SRT Jeep Grand Cherokee, but with the “street performance style” of the Dodge brand. Of course, this isn’t the first time that we […] More »
I have had the extreme pleasure to spend time driving the 2016 Dodge Challenger 392 Scat Pack Shaker and the 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the past few weeks. While testing those two beautiful Mopar muscle cars, I hooked up my GoPro to make some videos showing each Hemi-powered beast blasting from a stop […] More »
A friend of mine named Paul owns the gorgeous Plum Crazy Hellcat Challenger shown above and after logging 5,400 miles on the stock Pirelli rubber, the time has come to buy new tires. Before taking the car to the shop for a new set of shoes, Paul decided to scrub off the rest of the […] More »