"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.
We are drawing closer to the full scale arrival of the aluminum bodied 2015 Ford F-150 at dealerships around the country. At the same time, there are still plenty of 2014 F-150 pickups on lots so over the next few months, buyers at Ford dealerships will be able to pick between old and new F-150s.
Lightning strikes again. This video features a 2nd generation Ford F-150 Lightning sport truck that has obviously been heavily modified. There is no mod list for this factory supercharged F-150 pickup, but as soon as the green light drops and this bright red Ford truck rockets away from the line – it is very clear that this truck is making some very serious power.
This week’s Truckin Fast video features a fairly new Ford F-150 in some quarter mile drag racing action. Nothing is known about this pickup other than the fact that is supercharged and that it obviously has a V8 engine.
This week’s Tire Smokin’ video features a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup packing a 6.0L PowerStroke diesel and some fairly minor modifications including an Edge programmer, an exhaust system and a cold air intake package – all of which work together to help this F-250 make some monster torque.
This week’s Mudfest video features a Ford F-150 that has been lifted and fitted with a set of 35-inch mud tires, showing us how not to tackle the mud pit.
This video features a 1989 Ford F-150 powered by a 4.9L inline-6 engine and a 4-speed manual transmission. I don’t know that I have ever featured an inline-6 engine for any of our segments, but this inline torque monster does a burnout that could make some V8 F-150 owners blush.
