"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 video takes a look at a 1999 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 that took part in the Hot Rod Drag Week 2011, running mid 11s with some fairly simple mods over the course of the week-long race-and-cruise event. The owner of this LS1 Camaro is Stephen Mashburn and with modifications including an LS6 […] More »
Since the movie Cars was released, a great many people have taken old, beat up tow trucks and created their own version of the character Mater and while I have seen a ton of these Hollywood knock-offs – this one might be the coolest thanks to the LS1 engine packed under the hood. As you […] More »
This week’s Throwback Thursday video features a gorgeous 1971 Chevrolet Nova that looks stock on the inside and out, but under the hood is a carbed and cammed LS1 V8 that gives this classic Chevy muscle car a wicked grumble and a whole lot of go-fast power. This is just a walkaround video, so we […] More »
This week’s Dyno Blast Wednesday clip features a silver Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 powered by an LS1 engine and enhanced with a big Procharger D1SC supercharger. With the help of twin intercoolers, this blower setup shoves 10 psi of boost into the engine and the result is an impressive 542 rear wheel horsepower and, according to […] More »
This video is hot off the presses, showing a 4th generation Chevrolet Camaro roaring down the quarter mile in just 8.63 seconds at 158 miles per hour and based on the fact that this car packs a 6-speed manual transmission – this is the fastest 6-speed Camaro in the world. To hit those incredible numbers, […] More »
This week’s Drag Racing Monday video features a bright red Camaro that rockets down the quarter mile in the deep 9 second range and to show off this impressive pass, Next Racing has put together a great video of the beast in action. Not only is this an awesome Camaro, but the video is very […] More »
Forum member 2002ArticWhiteSS recently headed to downtown Indianapolis with a friend who also drives a 4th generation Chevrolet Camaro SS to get some pictures of his Arctic White 2002 Camaro SS. The two found an area that was heavily clad in graffiti and those bright colors made for a great back drop for the Arctic […] More »