Carrara Media at FuelFest L.A.
All photos by Walter Fulbright (@walts_cam)
Fuelfest is one part horsepower and one part “Holy crap, did you see that?” It brings the original ethos of the Fast and the Furious franchise to life before your eyes, mixing static show cars with the nonstop noise of drifting and drag racing. In short, it’s automotive overload.
The show returned to Los Angeles this year, where it originally began. Now that the Irwindale Speedway is no more, Fuelfest marked a new chapter by moving to the Pomona Fairplex just off the 10 freeway. That gives the event room to grow, and a place to call home in L.A. for the foreseeable future. It also gave us at Carrara Media a chance to set up shop.
Our first interaction with Fuelfest came in 2023, when I was researching Cult of GT-R and covered the show to see concentrated car culture in action. I also interviewed Cody Walker, the organizer of Fuelfest and one of its main attractions. Brother of the late Paul Walker, the iconic F&F actor, Cody has picked up the torch as car culture ambassador. And the fans love him for it.
More than other modern car shows, the attendees of Fuelfest grew up on Fast and the Furious. To many of them, the films are inspirations and the actors are heroes. Fuelfest is a dreamscape, filled with cars straight from the screen, real-life characters walking around shaking hands, and Cody himself cheering them all on. The fans are pulsing with excitement, and this year they were rewarded with a bombshell announcement from F&F icon Vin Diesel himself.
It should come as no surprise that the Nissan Skyline GT-R is one of the stars of the show. The first F&F films were full of them, and Paul Walker himself was famously a fan and owner. At our booth, Cult of GT-R caught the eye of kids and adults alike whose eyes would light up as they launched into a story about cool Skylines they’d seen, owned or driven.
This year, their eyes also lit up when they got a chance to flip through an early sample of Larry Chen’s upcoming book, Life At Shutter Speed. When it releases on September 29th, LASS will be a 400-page collectible that is perfectly at home on your mantle, in your garage, or in the dingy workshop that was producing 10-second Supras way back in 2001.
Fuelfest is inspired by a 25-year old movie. But it couldn’t be more representative of car culture today. It’s brand-agnostic, it’s welcoming to all ages and backgrounds, and it’s a combination of car show and motorsport and festival. And even though it was a sweaty 95 degrees in Pomona, the crowd toughed out the heat to get their fill of tire smoke above all else.
That’s what makes Fuelfest a perfect barometer for the strength of car culture in this moment. And it’s what makes the show a great fit for Carrara Media going forward. Both brands are dedicated to recognizing and celebrating automotive passion. A lot of ingredients go into making Fuelfest. But giving back to the fans will always be the secret sauce.
To learn more about Life At Shutter Speed and other books, click here.