{"id":39410,"date":"2023-01-03T00:04:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T05:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=39410"},"modified":"2023-01-03T00:04:08","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T05:04:08","slug":"1138307_ken-block-dead-at-55","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=39410","title":{"rendered":"Rally and gymkhana icon Ken Block dead at 55"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ghymkana hero and rally driver Ken Block died on Monday living life the only way he knew how\u2014having fun.<\/p>\n<p>Block&#8217;s crew at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cm74ZDVL_PS\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hoonigan confirmed via Instagram<\/a> he died in a snowmobile accent on Jan. 2. Block was 55 years old and is survived by his wife and three children. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2023\/01\/02\/rally-car-driver-ken-block-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TMZ reported<\/a> that the Wasatch County, Utah, sheriff&#8217;s office said the accident happened at about 2 p.m. when the snowmobile upended and landed on top of Block. He was reportedly pronounced dead on the scene.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"static-marker-video-player-primis\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband,&#8221; Hoonigan posted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_wrapper first_wrapper\" readability=\"7\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" name=\"tccimg_100870972_m\" title=\"Hoonigan confirms Ken Block's death on Instagram\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD\/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=\" alt=\"Hoonigan confirms Ken Block's death on Instagram\" width=\"640\" height=\"361\" class=\"first_image lazy\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"577\" data-url=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/hoonigan-confirms-ken-blocks-death_100870972_l.jpg\" data-src-h=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/hug\/hoonigan-confirms-ken-blocks-death_100870972_h.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/hoonigan-confirms-ken-blocks-death_100870972_l.jpg\" data-src-l=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/hoonigan-confirms-ken-blocks-death_100870972_l.jpg\" data-src-m=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/med\/hoonigan-confirms-ken-blocks-death_100870972_m.jpg\" data-src-s=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/sml\/hoonigan-confirms-ken-blocks-death_100870972_s.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Hoonigan confirms Ken Block&#8217;s death on Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Co-founder of DC shoes, Block took to professional driving while working as a marketing executive for his company. He attended Team O&#8217;Neil rally school at the age of 36 and became enamored with the sport. Block started racing full time in 2005.<\/p>\n<p>Block created his first gymkhana video in 2008 and it immediately went viral. His latest gymkhana escapades saw him behind the wheel of the custom-built electric Audi S1 E-Tron Quattro Hoonitron <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1137599_watch-ken-block-audi-ev-tear-up-vegas-in-electrikhana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">for &#8220;Electrikhana.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1137535_deep-dive-ken-block-s-audi-s1-hoonitron\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Audi S1 E-Tron Quattro Hoonitron<\/a> was built specifically for Block, who signed in on with Audi in 2021 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1133647_audi-hires-ken-block-to-help-develop-electric-cars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">help develop electric cars<\/a> for the German automaker. Block said he was a major Audi fan, but the partnership with the Four Rings was made possible by Block&#8217;s exclusive relationship with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1130876_ken-block-and-ford-s-marriage-is-over-block-s-a-free-agent-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ford coming to an end<\/a>. Before teaming up with Audi, Block returned to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1132032_ken-block-returns-to-rally-racing-in-a-subaru-wrx-sti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rallying with Subaru<\/a>, which is the brand that got him started with his motorsports career.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/hoonigan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Block&#8217;s company, Hoonigan<\/a>, has grown into a small empire. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1133468_ken-block-s-hoonigan-company-merged-with-an-aftermarket-wheel-company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">merged with Wheel Pros<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>While he grew up skateboarding, snowboarding, and riding dirt bikes, Block told Motor Authority in 2016 he quit riding dirt bikes because he &#8220;had this cool race car career.&#8221; He had plenty of injuries from riding dirt bikes and he was afraid to get injured. He still snowboarded a lot.<\/p>\n<p>Block taught his 14-year-old daughter how to drive. She then immediately began to follow in her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1106652_ken-blocks-v2-hoonicorn-mustang-packs-1400-wild-horses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">father&#8217;s footsteps<\/a> and raced her father&#8217;s Hoonicorn against a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1134756_ken-block-s-14-year-old-daughter-raced-the-hoonicorn-against-a-hemi-powered-corvette-drag-car\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hemi-powered Corvette drag car<\/a>. Ken Block <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1112811_ken-block-says-twin-turbo-1400-hp-hoonicorn-is-frightening\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called the car frightening<\/a> with up to 1,400 hp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ghymkana hero and rally driver Ken Block died on Monday living life the only way he knew how\u2014having fun. Block&#8217;s crew at Hoonigan confirmed via Instagram he died in a snowmobile accent on Jan. 2. Block was 55 years old and is survived by his wife and three children. TMZ reported that the Wasatch County, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}