A massive car fest is coming to SoCal with drift rides that feel like 'throttle therapy'

After stops in Dallas-Ft.Worth and the Bay Area, FuelFest, a global car-enthusiast festival, will cruise into the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa on June 13.

Those in attendance will get to watch the rubber hit the road on a drift course, gawk at more than 700 performance-built cars on display and behold some of the vehicles that introduced Japanese tuner cars to the American market in “Fast and Furious.”“FuelFest is where good people, car-culture people, come to meet one another because they share a common interest, a common passion,” said Cody Walker, founder of FuelFest and the brother of late actor Paul Walker, who was known for his role in Universal Studio’s “Fast and Furious” franchise.Organizers expect thousands of people to flock to the OC Fair & Event Center for FuelFest, moved not just by the sight and sounds of muscle cars, but by what surprises are in store to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first “Fast and Furious” movie.“This is a love letter to the city of Los Angeles and Orange County,” “Fast and Furious” actor Tyrese Gibson, a co-sponsor of the event, said on a recent video call about FuelFest.Travel & Experiences Ideas to help you plan out the warm days ahead, from an alpaca encounter in Carpinteria to a glitzy sleepover in Coronado.The event will be something of a homecoming for Walker, Gibson and the “Fast” franchise.

Walker, raised in the Sunland-Tujunga area, said the event will include tributes to cars made popular by the seminal Southern California car scene, including a lowrider and exotic car display.Of course, FuelFest is also a tribute to Paul Walker.

To continue his brother’s legacy, Cody Walker quit his job as a paramedic and took charge of Reach Out Worldwide, a disaster-relief charity founded by Paul in 2010, and he created FuelFest as a means to raise money for his brother’s initiatives.“[Paul] was 40 years old, and we thought he had about 70 to go,” Walker said on a vi...