Tomorrow night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Travis Pastrana
will hit the track for the first event in his new Red Bull Racing Dodge Dart
Rally Car.Pastrana and the new Dart
rally car will compete with 15 other drivers including rally racing superstars
like Tanner Foust, Brian Deegan, Rhys Millen and Ken Block.
This is a big weekend for both the new Dodge Dart rally team
but also Global Rally Cross racing association. Rally racing has more of a “cult following” but with the GRC guys
running at Charlotte Motor Speedway right after the NASCAR Nationwide Series History
300, there could be thousands of prospective new fans in the crowd.NASCAR is the biggest motorsport in the US
and we can expect the stands to be packed with fans with the high-flying rally
cars take to the track Saturday night.
Travis Pastrana and his Red Bull sponsored Dodge Dart Rally
Car will certainly have their work cut out for them tomorrow night with his
biggest competition coming from the long lineup of championship caliber drivers
piloting Ford Fiesta and Subaru WRX STi rally cars.Ford and Subaru each have 6 cars in tomorrow
night’s field while Hyundai sends two Veloster rally cars and the lone Dart is
joined by a single Saab 9-3 rally car.I
bet that you are thinking “Someone is racing a Saab?”… because I thought the
same thing. Seriously…let Saab die.
Anyways…
Those of you who have an Xbox 360 can watch tomorrow’s
Global RallyCross event from Charlotte live starting at 7pm on ESPN3.If you do not have access to ESPN3, you can
catch the action on tape delay on ESPN2 starting at 8pm eastern standard time.
"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.
Tomorrow night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Travis Pastrana