FuelFest doesn’t feel like a typical car event, and after spending time there, it’s pretty clear why. What started as a small celebration of Fast & Furious culture has grown into a global tour that now draws crowds from all over the world, but it still carries a different kind of energy than most large-scale automotive events. A lot of that comes back to who’s behind it. Cody Walker, Paul Walker’s younger brother and CEO of Reach Out Worldwide, has stayed closely tied to the event as it’s grown, and that connection shows in its evolution.When the HotCars crew interviewed him on stage, the conversation covered everything from international expansion to rare cars showing up out of nowhere. Still, one moment from last year’s Los Angeles event kept coming up. At the time, it felt like a normal onstage announcement, but we got some insight from Cody that blew our minds about Vin Diesel's big announcement. Vin Diesel Announced It Before The Studio Did (And We're Glad He Did) Amanda Cline / HotCarsOn the HotCars stage at FuelFest Tampa in March, Cody said he had a funny story about Vin Diesel's big announcement. In case you missed it, Vin announced a few things: the Fast & Furious series would return for a final installment in LA, and they would focus on car culture again (thankfully). We thought that was pretty cool, but Cody laughed and said, "That caught us all by surprise." According to Cody, before Vin Diesel went onstage, the two of them were talking backstage about where things stood on the next Fast & Furious movie. “Vin goes, ‘You know, Universal hasn’t greenlit the project yet.’”“He goes, ‘I’m going to go on stage, and I’m going to make the announcement… and you’ll see what happens,’” Cody said. There wasn’t really any room to second-guess it at that point. “He made the announcement. Universal didn’t even know the movie was coming out,” Cody laughed. And that was that. The final Fast & Furious installment was coming, whether Universal wanted it or not. FuelFest Is Big Enough That Moments Like That Carry Weight David Alpert / HotCarsThat kind of moment doesn’t work unless the platform is big enough to support it, and FuelFest has reached that point. When I asked Cody about how this year’s schedule came together, it didn’t sound like a carefully mapped-out expansion. It sounded more like something that kept growing as new opportunities came in, and they kept leaning into it. He brought up the show in Doha, Qatar, almost immediately. “We had a mega show in Doha, Qatar. Like, it was insane,” he said. “There were more people there from Eastern Europe, all over the place, than there were even Qataris at the show.” That same momentum carries into the rest of the year, with multiple stops across the U.S., a return to the UK for the first time since 2019, and another event in Japan at Fuji Speedway. Cody said they’re calling it a “World Tour,” and we love that for them. If you aren't already aware, FuelFest is held as part of a fundraising effort for Reach Out Worldwide, a nonprofit organization Paul started in 2010 to give back. ROWW deploys teams internationally to help people impacted by events ranging from earthquakes to hurricanes. Thanks to all of the FuelFest events and everyone who attends them, Cody told us they've raised a million dollars to help fund future missions. You can learn more at the link above, but the best way to help is to attend an event, volunteer, or donate to the cause (we definitely suggest checking out an event). Most Of These Cars Still Have Stories Attached To Them The Evo driven by Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) in Fast 2 Furious at FuelFest Tampa 2026.Even with everything else going on, the cars are still the center of it. What stood out this time wasn’t just what showed up, but the stories behind them. The Evo driven by Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) in Fast 2 Furious was in attendance, “That’s actually hero one,” Cody told us. “It was lost for about the last 14 years.” It only recently resurfaced, enter Gabriel Tremblay and his team to take on the project. Gabriel told us they were up until 3 AM the night before the show getting it ready, but it was worth it. Then there’s the Hakosuka Skyline, the one Paul Walker drove in Fast Five. “The same owners that own it today have owned it all these years,” Cody said. “It’s never been a Universal-owned vehicle.” We spoke with them, too, and it is very clear they have a lot of love for the film, the people, and, of course, the cars. Car Culture Looks Different Depending On Where You Are David Alpert / HotCarsCody described car culture simply: “It’s a universal language. If you like cars, you like cars.” But the way that plays out changes a lot depending on location. In Southern California, lighter, more balanced cars make sense because of the canyon roads. That’s what people build for. In places like Texas or Florida, where you have long stretches of open road, the focus shifts toward horsepower.“The geography, the topography definitely dictates what they’re going to build,” he said. Then he brought up something that doesn’t really translate unless you’ve seen it in person. In the Middle East, people take full-size SUVs and drive them on two wheels as part of the culture. “They get them tipped up on two wheels… and they drive them around,” he said. “Sometimes a guy’s standing on top of it while his buddy’s inside driving it.” It sounds ridiculous, but it’s just another version of how people engage with cars, depending on where they are.David Alpert / HotCarsFuelFest has grown into something that doesn’t really follow the same rules as most events anymore. It’s bigger, it’s more global, and it’s pulling in cars and stories that feel a lot closer to the source than you’d expect. But moments like that announcement are what really set it apart because there’s no filter between what happens on stage and the people standing in front of it, and sometimes that creates a kind of viral moment you can't really control anymore. So thank you, Vin Diesel, for the viral moment. And thank you, Paul, Cody, and everyone at ROWW for putting these events together. You know what they say: