Pro rally driver Ken Block, the Hoonigan and DC Shoes co-founder who revolutionised action sports marketing and motorsports filmmaking, died in a snowmobile accident near his home in Utah on Monday. He was 55.
The iconic racer, who rose to racing fame in 2005, reportedly died in a snowmobile accident while on his ranch in Utah.
His team, Hoonigan Racing Division, paid tribute to the beloved sportsman saying Ken "was a visionary, a pioneer, and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband, he will be incredibly missed".
Block co-founded the skateboard brand DC Shoes in 1984. After selling the company in 2004, Block famously transitioned from a marketing executive to one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Only five years after getting behind the wheel of a rally car, he became a World Rally and Rally America podium threat and a five-time X Games medalist in RallyCross.
An avid action sports enthusiast, Block was an ambassador for the industry and a family man who, in 2022, raced the American Rally Association Championship alongside his wife, Lucy, and their 16-year-old daughter, Lia.
In 2008, Block posted the first of 10 Gymkhana videos to YouTube, which featured him stunt driving, drifting, and creatively interacting with his environment, and nearly broke the internet. More than one billion views later, his Hoonigan YouTube channel became the most popular in motorsports history.
We are all greatly devastated by the loss of this true motorsport icon. One of the world's visionaries within the automotive industry. A true icon, a legend, an inspiration to many, one who will has left a true legacy for generations to come.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time ❤️