"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.
For this week’s Throwback video, I bring you the commercial that introduced the television world to the 1970 Chevrolet Camaro…a car that was marketed here as the “Super Hugger”.
This week’s Dyno Blast video is a C3 Corvette which has been upfitted with a LS1 V8 from a 1998 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. The description says that it is stock, but it also says that it is equipped with a 228 cam, so while it has stock heads and a stock intake, it sounds like there were some modifications made to the engine prior to swapping it into the 1982 Corvette.
This week’s Drag Race video features a 4th generation Pontiac Firebird packing an LS1 V8 racing against a late model Dodge Ram 2500. While you would think right away that an LS1 Firebird would thrash a heavy duty Dodge truck, this diesel powered Ram pickup definitely appears to have a little work done.
This burnout video takes us across the pond to a burnout competition in Vasteras, Sweden, where a right hand drive Holden Monaro with an LS1 V8 shows off what GM performance is all about. American buyers will recognize the general appearance of the Monaro, as in the mid-2000s it was sold here in the United States as the Pontiac GTO.
This week’s Throwback video brings you the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray commercial, which is unusual in how it focuses on the Corvette while also showing off the other cars in the 1963 Chevrolet car lineup.
Until the new LT4 was introduced for the 2015 Corvette Z06, the LS9 V8 from the C6 Corvette ZR1 was the most powerful production road motor from GM ever. That engine helped make the C6 ZR1 one of the most formidable performance cars in the world and when you swap that engine into another car – it doesn’t fail to impress.
