This week’s Throwback video features an interesting 2001 Ford Ranger ad, which takes an unusual approach to drag attention to the popular midsized pickup.
The video begins with someone carrying a coupe hockey bags and sticks out of an ice rink, loading most of the equipment into the bed of the Ranger XLT, including the goalie sticks. The goalie then throws the skates and mask into the truck and climbs in, removing the hood of her sweatshirt and showing us that the goalie is actually an attractive woman – one who is missing a tooth, presumably because she plays hockey.
Of course, it should be ignored that by the time this 2001 Ranger commercial was introduced, no one playing ice hockey would be wearing a Nightmare on Elm Street metal goalie mask and if she was wearing that mask, how would she lose a tooth? Also, the skates are the type that a forward or defense man would wear, so she has the wrong skates to be playing goaltender, but I think that the point of the video is that tough people drive Rangers and sometimes those tough people are women…or something.
"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.
