"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.
While there has been no official word whatsoever from FCA, insider information suggests that the company is working on a more powerful Hellcat Hemi for the 2019 or 2020 Dodge Challenger – one which will allegedly offer some 850 horsepower in street legal form. I should open by pointing out that I am a little […] More »
The modern Dodge Challenger was introduced for the 2008 model year and for today’s Throwback Thursday video, we bring you the first television commercial for the return of the Mopar muscle car. As you likely recall, the 2008 Dodge Challenger was introduced at first in only SRT8 form, with the 6.1 liter Hemi V8 laying […] More »
This past weekend, hundreds of vehicles headed to Colorado for the annual Pikes Peak hill climb, and among those cars was a new Dodge Viper ACR. Not just any Viper ACR, but the exact same Viper that Chris Winkler drove to track records all over the United States. After the addition of a safety cage […] More »
Last week we brought you the news that the 2017 model year would be the final chapter of the current Dodge Viper story, but to send off the ultimate American supercar in grand fashion, the company will offer up 5 special edition packages for the final model year. That statement came with just one image […] More »
It is official – the Dodge Viper will be discontinued following the 2017 model year. That sucks, but before the Dodge Viper races off into the sunset, the Chrysler Group will offer up 5 special edition packages that call on some of the most significant Vipers in the 25 year history of the great American […] More »
We haven’t heard anything official from Chrysler thus far, but the folks at Hellcat.org have gotten their hands on some leaked information on the 2017 Dodge Challenger. While there are no huge changes planned for the next model year, the 2017 Challenger could get some new colors, a revamped infotainment system and even a new […] More »
The Chrysler Group rolled out the information on their newest Mopar branded vehicle this morning and for the first time in the history of the 7-year program – the base vehicle is a Ram truck. However, where the Mopar 10 through 15 focused on more common models of the Charger, Challenger, Dart and 300, the […] More »