The Autoweek America Adventure road rally Presented by SRT begins tomorrow

Tomorrow at the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, the Autoweek
America Adventure road rally Presented by SRT kicks off on their 6-day tour of
the United States with the 29 teams competing to win a 2012 Chrysler 300C SRT8.  Among those 29 teams are a variety of
Chrysler Group products but three specific cars have been chosen and entered by
SRT division with a pair of Chrysler 300C SRT8 sedans and a Dodge Neon SRT4.

The SRT brand has sponsored three teams include team #734 “Wild
Pickle”, team #77 coSRToc and team #20 Honey Badger Boo Boo. 

Team Wild Pickle is comprised of Anthony Meldorf and Russell Blackstock with
their race car for the week being the Chrysler 300C SRT8 as these two Navy
submariners race on the behalf/in honor of the men and women who served in the
US Armed Forces.  Anthony drives a Dodge
Caliber SRT4 while Russell drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8…at least its
not a Toyota, right?  You can view their
profile page by clicking here.

Next is Team coSRToc, with Steve Pomana and TJ Tjarks
driving a “specially prepared” Dodge Neon SRT4. 
Their profile doesn’t mention what they drive but considering the fact
that they met through an SRT owners website – we can guess that they drive
Chrysler Group products.  The SRT brand
sponsored this team to represent all of the enthusiast groups around the
country.  You can click their profile by
clicking here.

The final SRT-sponsored team is Team Honey Badger Boo Boo
and this pairing is comprised of Auto Week editor-in-chief Dutch Mande and director
of SRT brand marketing and operations, Beth Paretta.  These two will be racing from Colorado to Las
Vegas in another Chrysler 300C SRT8.  You
can read their full profile here.

You can look at the full list of teams and follow along with
the Autoweek America Adventure Presented by SRT by clicking here but I will
warn you that right now, it is hard to tell who is driving what so if you’re
looking to root for Chrysler Group products, it might take some time to figure
out who is driving what.  A few of the
teams have pictures in their galleries that indicate what they are driving and
Ive found a few other Chrysler racers like Team Gamma (#01) that is racing a
new Dodge Charger SRT8, Team Forge Ahead USA (#12) in a Dodge Viper and Team Roe
Racing (#5) in a Dodge Viper.

The image atop the article shows the #01 Charger SRT8 of
Team Gamma.  They are not sponsored by
SRT but considering that they have an awesome car and they are really the only
team who has put up images thus far – it seemed like a good reason to feature
their Charger.  You can read more about
their team here.

The Autoweek America Adventure Presented by SRT finishes up
at the 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas with 6 days of cross country driving
combined with challenges to test the racers along the way.  For those unsure, this is not a high speed
race on public roads but rather, a competition to see who can get from point A
to point B closest to the given amount of time. 
Teams are penalized if they get to a stop too early to simply being the
team who drives the fastest from point to point will not be the winner.  You can click here for a closer look at the
rules of the Autoweek America Adventure Presented by SRT and to keep tabs with
what is going on over the next week, you can subscribe to your favorite team’s
social networking feeds.

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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