Ken Block dies at 55

Hoonigan Industries confirmed that motorsport celebrity Ken Block died in a snowmobile accident near his home in Utah in January. Block rose to prominence setting up the DC trainer shoe company, footwear which was much sought after in the skating community. After selling it for a massive profit in 2004, he made a surprising career change from fashion and marketing to motorsport. Participating in World Rally and Rally America, he was a medallist five times in X Games Rally Cross.

Ken Block. Image: Ford Motor Company.

He was probably best known in the American automotive community for his ‘gymkhana’ exploits with his Hoonigan Mustang on the eponymous YouTube channel which went on to become the most popular motorsport channel on the platform. First posting in 2008, his drifting and stunts became the stuff of legend. Steve Arpin, Block’s team-mate in the Nitro RallyCross series, told Sport Channel ESPN: “Ken was a legend in his ability to take a vision and make it a reality. He created an industry, but if you were lucky enough to know him, that’s where the best parts of Ken surfaced. He treated his friends like gold and would create opportunities for whoever wanted to put in the work. He was everything this world needs more of, and just happened to do a lot of really cool stuff on the side.”