This week’s Black Friday video features a pair of modified Dodge Ram pickups packing the Cummins Turbo Diesel engine in a quarter mile, heads up drag race. The video begins as both Ram pickups ease into the staging beams, so we don’t get to see a burnout, but as the lights come down, the 2g Ram in the near lane begins to spew soot as he prepares to launch. Unfortunately, the 3g Ram in the far lane gets out to a much better start and puts bus lengths on the 2g Ram in the near lane – leaving it to look like this race is going to be a complete pounding.
However, once the 2g Ram gets moving, it quickly closes the gap on the newer truck in the far lane and while the older truck doesn’t get to the finish line first – it turns an incredible trap speed of 114.87 miles per hour. Clearly, if that truck can get away from the line quicker, it will be a whole lot quicker than a 14 second truck.
"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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.