On Oct. 25, FuelFest returns for its fourth consecutive year in Dallas-Fort Worth for an epic celebration of car culture with appearances by Fast & Furious franchise stars Tyrese Gibson and Cody Walker.

Hosting over 700 cars, 50+ brands, live music, and action-packed events that include drifting, drag racing, and fan ride-alongs, the FuelFest makes its pitstop at Texas Motor Speedway to unite car enthusiasts across the great Lone Star State. FuelFest Co-Founder Cody Walker sat down again with Texas Lifestyle Magazine to discuss what’s new this year, relive memories of his brother, Paul, and share with us where Reach Out WorldWide has been this year.

Last year, TLM had the pleasure of attending, and despite the cold, rainy weather, it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of engagement. So, for anyone’s first time or those who didn’t read last year’s article, what would you recommend?

Man, we’re excited to be coming back. This will be our fourth year. We obviously moved far away from last year’s date because we wanted good weather. The thing I love about FuelFest, there’s just a lot of things going on simultaneously at any given moment. Obviously, the drifting. Then, the opportunity to do a ride-along is always a crowd pleasing for sure. People love doing that. We’re also going to have the NASCAR experience going on this year, so people can sign up to drive a NASCAR around the iconic Texas Motor Speedway. We also have some guest pro drivers there as well. Chris Forsberg, Chelsea DeNova, and many others. So that’s going to be really cool. We’ve got Conway the Machine headlining for us on our festival stage. And then of course, our Taste of Tokyo section, which is our more curated section of the show, will be really nice as well.

And we’re in the weekend before Halloween, so we figured this is a cool opportunity to let people get some extra use out of their costumes. We’re going to be holding a costume contest, featuring both adult and children’s costumes. So that’ll be really fun. We’re also encouraging people to bring candy. We’re going to have a trunk or treat section as well because every child needs more candy than they’re going to get the following weekend. It’s a totally different time of year for us to be there in Texas, but we’re really excited about the new date, and we hope everyone else is too.

I saw you last year hanging out with the community. Given that you’re the top of this organization, how do you remain so involved?

I love it. I love what I’m doing. That’s really what it is. It’s not really much more of a secret than that. I love the community. I love the culture. I’ve had this very unique opportunity to put these events on, and people just love it. They’re so supportive of it. The beginning of all of this was to create something that could sustain, and then we could donate a portion of the proceeds to Reach Out WorldWide, which is the nonprofit that my brother Paul started. It’s crazy, because this January would be 16 years ago. We started with this very humble beginning. We’ve grown it to where it is now, and now we’re an international show. We’ve got some really big announcements for next year, and we’re quickly approaching about $800,000 raised for charity, which is really insane. I was really proud of that. Just makes it worthwhile.

I’m sure you hear a lot of  awesome stories. Have any of them resonated with you?

You know, I’ve been approached by so many people, and some of them had the opportunity to meet my brother. And it always comes back to what I’m sure you’ve heard about Paul. He was just such a normal person. He was just not affected by being a movie star and all of this stuff. Like he was just so normal. And that’s kind of where everyone’s story ends up. It’s like, “Dude, your brother was just so nice and so humble. And he was nice to me and my whole family. And we met him, and he took the time to talk to us and took pictures with us.”

That was just who he was. He didn’t care if you owned the building or if you washed the windows; he really didn’t care. Everyone is worthy of respect, and he’d look you right in the eye and talk to you, and anyone who’s ever got to meet him echoes the same. It’s like, man, what a normal person in such an abnormal industry. It’s so rare.

It’s as if Paul is still alive throughout this whole process. You get to relive a lot of him through these stories.

It makes me feel so good. People sometimes apologize for their long-winded story, and I’m like, “Are you kidding me? I love it. I love your story. I love hearing that.” Puts a huge smile on my face. I’m so much younger than Paul; I was like a big accident, a big surprise. He was the oldest. We’ve got two in between. And the three of them were very much planned. And then along came me. So, growing up, I went through these bouts of having siblings at home and not having siblings at home. But he was always a huge example for me. He’d freaking scoop me up and take me all over the place with him, all over the world! He was like a big brother and another sort of father-like figure. And so, just a big example for me. It’s always cool to hear people say similar things. It makes me feel great.

Did your brother help you with your first car? Were there any car projects between the two of y’all?

Actually my first car was with him in Santa Barbara. We were driving along Shoreline Park, near the community college. He lived in that area; it’s called the Mesa. Really quaint. Older homes and smaller. And Paul and I always loved wagons. We saw this old-timer driving by in this sea foam green or bluish one, like a Chevy. It was a ’64 Nova wagon. And it had for sale signs. We chased him down, got his information, made a deal right there, ran to the bank, got some cash, and bought this thing. And that was my first car, man. I’ll never forget it. It was the coolest thing ever. It had a 350 in it, and it needed a bunch of work. Sadly, after about a year or so of driving, it became another project that got taken apart into a million pieces and was never completed. And then Paul passed away some years later. Maybe someday I’ll track down a ’64 Nova wagon. That’d be a pretty neat project.

Who knows if someone’s reading this later on, and they’re like, “I have a 64 wagon for you.” Hit me up!

That’s what makes FuelFest so exciting, it’s a mix of all these cultures. From imports to American Muscle, everyone can participate. Was that by design?

Always. We wanted FuelFest to be a reflection of the local community. In the end, we just wanted to celebrate our love for cars and the culture that surrounds them. I’m stealing this quote from someone else, but it’s like taking all the different tribes and putting them under one big teepee. That was always the goal, and I’m so glad that it’s worked out that way. That was always the hope.

So, after DFW, you’ve got Phoenix coming up. And then does that conclude the tour, essentially?

October 25th is Texas, and then December 6th is Arizona. We’ll be in Phoenix, at Firebird Raceway. That will conclude our 2025 tour. We are finalizing all the stops for next year. Some of them will be repeat markets. Some of them will be new. We plan to make that announcement after the holidays, once the dust has settled. We’ll make the announcement in early January, but our first stop domestically is going to be West Palm Beach, Florida. 

Reach Out WorldWide has been really close to the FuelFest community, and near and dear to your heart. Can you tell us about some of the recent events that y’all have had to respond to?

My goodness, there’s been quite a few this year already. To start, in January of this year, Southern California experienced catastrophic fires that destroyed the Pacific Palisades and the Altadena area, including Pasadena. We’ve been specifically assisting the Eaton Canyon fire victims since January. That’s been a very large mission for us. And actually, it’s really close to home because I actually lived in Altadena for almost five years. We’ve made ongoing efforts there, helping people who lost their homes get everything from basic necessities to full bedroom sets and furniture. And there are thousands of homes that will take years to rebuild. And Altadena, right up above Pasadena, where the Rose Bowl is, is a very interesting place. You have a few people with money, but then you have most people who are just getting by. It’s a multi-generational living situation where many people live under one roof in very modest homes built in the 1940s. It’s a beautiful area with beautiful trees, and all of that has just been destroyed. So we’ve been really busy with that this year.

And then we’ve had other missions as well. We’ve spent a lot of time in Texas with the floods in July. We’ve been out in North Carolina. There was also flooding there during that same time. So we’ve been busy. We’re a small organization. We are not corporate by any stretch of imagination. And so those three events have kept us really busy this year. I believe to date, there have been somewhere around 93 missions since ROWW was founded in 2010. That’s pretty remarkable. We’ve also responded to over 13 different countries worldwide, with some of those being multiple times.

It really started as an idea that Paul had, and he funded it himself. There was never any public funding or anything. Paul just did it. And he was the heart and soul. So when we lost him unexpectedly at 40 years old, it was really shocking. And, it was like, what’s going to happen with the foundation? Things weren’t set up in a way that it would survive without him. That’s something we had to figure out. And so here we are. And I think at the time of Paul’s passing, there had been six or seven missions. And now we’re at over 90.

Reach Out WorldWide is doing a lot of good work out there. Is there anything ROWW needs?

ROWW is always looking for volunteers. But there are a lot of different ways people can get involved. Donations are always welcome, but not everyone can always give, and that’s totally fine. You can volunteer. I direct everyone to the website—it’s ROWW.org-–where they can learn how to get involved. We actually also have a really fun thing going on right now where people can enter to win a Mark 5 Supra. It’s all decked out. It’s got this crazy wrap on it, a play off the original. It’s like a tribute, but of course, it’s a modern Supra Mark 5. Anyone can go there and register for their chance to win. There are ways to get more chances to win, of course, and 100% of the profits from that are going directly to Reach Out WorldWide.

And with FuelFest, children 12 and under are free. It’s been that way since day one. That’s something we’re proud of. If there’s anyone out there who wants to bring the family, we want to make it that much easier for you. So hope to see you all on October 25th. Imagine how great it’s going to be without rain.

Visit www.FuelFest.com for event information, car registration, and tickets. Be sure to follow FuelFest on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

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Cover photo courtesy FuelFest

Martin Ramirez is a brisket-eating, Shiner-loving, road-tripping enthusiast of all things Texas. This Dallas-born writer / adventurer is ready to take his ‘78 El Camino to find the best in food, fun, and fitness throughout the Lone Star State.