FacebookPaul Walker and Roger Rodas both died Saturday after the car they were in--a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT crashed into a pole and caught fire.
Although several people who saw the crash rushed to the site to save them, they were unable to pull either one of the men out of the car and couldn't extinguish the flames with the fire extinguishers they brought with them.
Rodas and Walker were good friends, with the actor meeting the businessman at a car race track before he went on to become Walker's financial advisor.
As we mourn the loss of Walker and Rodas, take a look at the five things to know about the Fast and Furious star's late friend.
He and Paul were close friends: A source told E! News, "[Roger and Paul] were two men who loved their families more than anything. They put that before all their other business. They had the same outlook, that's why they got along so well. It is heartbreaking. They were true friends who shared the same goals and interests."
He was a successful Businessman: The managing director/wealth advisor had worked at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch for twenty years. He earned a degree in Finance from California State University, and earned numerous certifications and credentials at The Wharton School of Business.
He Gave Back: Roger was active with various local charities in Southern California and in Latin America, working specifically with Reach Out Worldwide and The Asomugha Foundation (Kerry Washington's husband Nnamdi Asomugha's foundation) through his racing endeavors. His passion for education was as relentless as his his passion for family, friends, clients, and life, a source told E! News.
Walker was the founder of Reach Out Worldwide, a network of professionals with first responder skills, including doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc. who put their "boots to the ground" in America and worldwide to aid those affected by natural disasters.
He and Walker Shared a Love of Cars: According to Merrill Lynch's Wealth Management site, Walker met Roger (his Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor) on the track of a California race club. "The two struck up a conversation when Walker noticed Rodas driving a Porsche GT3 he had previously owned," the site posted. "Soon the two were racing side by side, as when they teamed recently with two professional drivers in a pro-am 25-hour endurance race in Thunder Hill, Calif."
Walker and Rodas were co-owners of a custom car shop: Located in Santa Clarita, Calif., the store is called Always Evolving, according to PasMag. In April, Walker told the mag, "I have a performance shop called AE Performance and we do race prep and all that stuff out in Valencia. So I have a couple partners and we all race together."
"It's a family business basically," he continued. "We brought in friends and people coming from different economic backgrounds, let's just say, but it's cool because everyone gets to have their cake and eat it too. Eric Davis, Roger Rodas, Rich Taylor, Casey Adamo are just a handful of the guys involved."
-Additional reporting by Lindsey Caldwell, Melanie Bromley and Holly Passalaqua