Team Dodge Struggles in Las Vegas

The third stop on the 2012 NASCAR tour brought the teams to
Las Vegas Motor Speedway and as was the case in Daytona, the majority of the
Dodge drivers would rather forget about the trip to Sin City.  Chevrolet driver Tony Stewart won the race
while two other Chevys and two Fords made up the rest of the top 5.  The highest finishing Dodge Charger was Brad
Keselowski’s #2 Miller Lite car – he finished 32^nd.  There was plenty of good news for Dodge fans
before the racing began with the introduction of the great looking 2013 Sprint
Cup Dodge Charger but on the track, things were much less exciting.

Brad Keselowski and teammate AJ Allmendinger both had strong
cars early in the race but problems began on lap 149 when Allmendinger ran into
fuel pressure problems.  AJ brought the
#22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger into the garage area to attempt to repair the
fuel delivery problems but it would take several trips to fix the progressing
fuel system issues.  The result was a
disappointing 37^th place finish, 30 laps down after his decent start
in 14^th place.

The fuel delivery monster took a little longer to read its
ugly head at Brad Keselowski’s #2 Charger but on a restart after Landon
Cassill’s Toyota Camry blew an engine on lap 246, Keselowski’s car failed to
make power and he was passed by masses of other cars in the field.  It was later stated that the car had fuel in
the tank, so the fuel pressure issues had to have been caused by the new
NASCAR-required electronic fuel injection system which replaced the good old
carbureted induction setups.  Keselowski
finished 8 laps down in 32^nd spot after qualifying 20^th.

Robby Gordon failed to qualify for the Las Vegas race in his
#7 Speed Energy Dodge Charger.

In the Saturday NASCAR Nationwide Series race, things were a
bit better with Sam Hornish Jr. finishing 9^th in his #12 Alliance
Truck Parts Dodge Challenger (shown above).  Hornish’s
teammate Brad Keselowski finished 23^rd in his #5 Discount Tire
Challenger while other Dodge drivers Derrick Cope and Jennifer Jo Cobb finished
32^nd and 36^th, respectively.  Unfortunately, NASCAR Nationwide Series
up-and-comer Jason Bowles went to Toyota with his #81 team – leaving behind the
Dodge Challenger for a Toyota Camry stock car. 
Hornish and Keselowski are members of Team Penske, who will be switching
from Dodge to Ford for the 2013 Nationwide and Sprint Cup series.

Both teams wrote off the problems as being a part of the
learning curve but with consistent problems plaguing the Sprint Cup teams – it
may be tough for SRT Motorsports to find interested parties for the 2013 NASCAR
season.  SRT Motorsports may be able to
entice teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series to run the Dodge Challenger,
especially in the case of smaller, lower budget teams (like Robby Gordon) but
with only so many of those teams still competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series, the teams piloting the Charger really need to have more success to
attract future takers.

Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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