This past Monday the Chrysler Group held a press conference
to announce a new race venture with a new driver and when the curtain dropped,
championship rally racer Travis Pastrana was introduced as the newest drive in
the Dodge stables.Pastrana will pilot a
purpose built 2013 Dodge Dart rally car in the Global RallyCross Championship
in seven events beginning in May at the season opener at Charlotte Motor
Speedway.
The 2013 Dodge Dart rally car that will compete with Travis
Pastrana behind the wheel will be a far cry from the production version of the
compact sedan, packing 600 horsepower and 550lb-ft of torque but like the Dart
coming to dealerships around the country – the rally car will be powered by a
2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine.All
of that power will be channeled to all four wheels by means of an advanced four
wheel drive gearbox developed by Sedav specifically for rally racing.
This could prove to be a great move by the folks at Dodge
and SRT, bringing in former rally racing champion Travis Pastrana in an effort
to bust into the emerging world of rally racing.Along with a history of success, Pastrana
brings with him a built-in fanbase that should help the new Dart rallycross
team much like Ford did in signing the likes of Tanner Foust, Ken Block and Brian
Deegan for their action sports racing team. More importantly, the fact that the artwork showing the upcoming Dodge
Dart rally car shows the SRT logo, perhaps this is the newest hint that the
Street and Racing Technology could be working on a high performance Dart SRT4.
The 2012 Global RallyCross season begins on May 26th
with the full schedule shown below.I
will attempt to follow Travis’ success throughout the season, hopefully
bringing news that the new Dodge Dart is helping Team Dodge and SRT Motorsports
succeed as their NASCAR team slowly dies.
May 26 – Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 10 – Texas Motor Speedway
June 30 – X Games, Los Angeles
July 1 – X Games, Los Angeles
July 14 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 1 – TBD
Sept. 29 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
"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.
This past Monday the Chrysler Group held a press conference