Professional rally car driver Ken Block died in a snowmobile accident in Utah on Monday. He was 55 years old.
Hoonigan Industries, a company Block co-owned, confirmed Block’s death.
“It's with deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today,” the company said in its statement. “Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed.”
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Block co-founded DC Shoes in 1984. He sold the company 20 years later and transitioned to rally car racing. He won 16 Rally America races from 2005 to 2014 and was a five-time X Games medalist.
His impact stretched beyond the track and onto social media. He gathered a popular following that includes 7.9 million Instagram followers and nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers. His online popularity took off with his Gymkhana videos on YouTube and continued to present day.
In 2022, Block got to race alongside his wife, Lucy, and their 16-year-old daughter, Lia, at the American Rally Association Championship.
Sports
“This year, Ken was so happy,” Travis Pastrana, another action sports megastar, told ESPN. “At the races, he was happy to be racing with Lucy and to have his daughter racing and to have his kids at most of the races. Few people get to the point in their lives where everything comes together, and to have it all taken away like this is devastating.”
