Show Off Your Porsche at ‘FuelFest,’ Help Paul Walker’s Charity

Car show, music, celebrities and an autocross area should make FuelFest one of SoCal’s hottest shows.

This weekend, Chris Lee and Cody Walker, brother of the late Fast and Furious star Paul Walker, will host FuelFest 2019 at Angel’s Stadium in Anaheim, California. This automotive festival is the first of what Walker and Lee hope could become a much larger series, combining a premium car show, food, music, an autocross competition and celebrity appearances into something similar to the “Race Wars” event featured in the original Fast and Furious movie.

The event is open to a wide variety of vehicles, including “imports, exotics, classics, Euro and off-road”, but with FueFest being held in Southern California, we can expect to see plenty of Porsche vehicles on display and in action. Proceeds of the event will go to Paul Walker’s charitable organization, Reach Out World Wide.

Show and Go

There are two key aspects of FuelFest 2019: the car show and the autocross competition. The majority of the Angel’s Stadium parking area that is designated for the event will host the car show, with rows of privately owned vehicles of all makes, models and varieties being joined by a collection of Fast and Furious movie cars. Show vehicle parking it broken up into two sections, one for the general show vehicles and another for the premium vehicles. According to the event website, the premium car show spots are “closer to the action”, but they also cost twice as much.

The basic show entry is $50 and includes admission for two people while the premium car show parking costs $100. That may seem like a lot of money to some car show folks, but those high registration prices will guarantee that the vehicles on display will be top-tier machines.

If you would rather show off your vehicle while it is in motion, FueFest offers an autocross competition area as well. For $100, autocross competitors are guaranteed at least three runs around the intricate track of cones, along with a chance at the title and entry for two people.

More Than a Car Show

FuelFest 2019 is modeled after the automotive festivals depicted in the Fast and Furious movies, so in addition to the car show and autocross area, there are food trucks, a DJ booming music, vendors, interactive exhibits, celebrity appearances and a beer garden that separates the car show area from the autocross area. Based on the map of the event, it looks as though the beer garden will be the perfect place to hang out for great viewing of the autocross course while also being able to enjoy the music and the food trucks.

If you don’t have a Porsche to show or race and you want to check out the event, spectator’s tickets are $15 and general admission parking is $10. However, if you want to have lunch with event co-founder Cody Walker, Fast and Furious actor Tyrese Gibson and YouTuber Supercar Blondie, you can buy the VIP Lunch ticket for $500. This gets you lunch with the stars, a picture with them, a goodie bag and access to the VIP lounge.

Again, FuelFest 2019 will be held on March 2 at Angel’s Stadium in Anaheim from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., but the autocross portion ends at 2, allowing organizers time to announce the winner before everyone hits the road. This is the kind of event that automotive enthusiasts all over the country would love to see grow, so if you live in Southern California, make sure to stop by FuelFest this weekend to support this event and the cause that it benefits.

Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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