"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 week’s Drag Race features a wicked C5 Corvette Z06 blasting down the quarter mile in the low 9 second range with the help of a little nitrous oxide…and probably more than a few other modifications. I don’t know what all is done to the LS6 engine powering this Corvette, but simply from listening to […] More »
For this week’s Throwback video, I have dug up the original 1998 Pontiac Firebird commercial which introduced the TV world to the LS1 powered Pontiac muscle car. This clip features three late 4th generation Firebirds rolling through a battered urban area (that very well could be Detroit.) The soundtrack is provided by the then-new LS1 V8…revving […] More »
Today’s dyno blast clip features a 4th generation Chevrolet Camaro SS powered by an LS1 with over 130,000 miles on it…that makes over 720 rear wheel horsepower and over 804 lb-ft of rear wheel torque. This Camaro makes such incredible numbers by adding a good set of cylinder heads, a BRE 224 camshaft and a […] More »
This week’s Drag Race video takes us to Germany, where we see an LS1 powered 4th generation Pontiac Firebird racing against an LS1 powered 4th gen Chevrolet Camaro. Nothing is known about either of these two cars outside of the engine (which is fairly obvious), but this presents a good example of American muscle in […] More »
Putting a powerful engine like an LS1 in a tiny pickup like a Chevy S10 is a recipe for a solid burnout machine, but when you tack on a turbo system, you have a compact pickup that is worthy of wearing the “Xtreme” badges. There is no information as to what all is done to […] More »
The 1998 Chevrolet Camaro introduced the muscle car world to the LS1 V8 and while it was a beast stock, there were few engines available when the LS1 debuted that would accept mods and make power like the first LS V8. Although GM has a long and storied history of high performance, the LS1 took […] More »
This week’s Dyno Blast segment features a 3rd generation Chevrolet Camaro IROC Z powered by an LS1 V8 on the dyno. This engine is said to be modified with only a unique camshaft package, shorty headers and an LS6 intake manifold, but I would guess that it also has a full exhaust system based on […] More »