YouTube sensation and all-round petrolhead Ken Block dies in a snowmobiling accident in Utah. The rally and stunt driver was 55 when he passed on. Block is survived by his wife Lucy, and their three children.

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Confirmation

We woke up to reports of the the terrible news that Ken Block dies. This led us to search for some form of official confirmation, which we found on the Hoonigan Instagram account:

This was backed up by a statement issued by the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office about the tragic incident:

“On January 2, 2023 at approximately 2:00 p.m., the Wasatch County 911 Center received a call reporting a snowmobile accident in the Mill Hollow area. Search and Rescue, along with law enforcement from Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office, Utah State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service responded.

The driver, Kenneth Block, 55-year-old male out of Park City, Utah, was riding a snowmobile on a steep slope when the snowmobile upended, landing on top of him. He was pronounced deceased at the scene from injuries sustained in the accident. Mr. Block was riding with a group but was alone when the accident occurred.”

Fame

Block was the one of the founders of clothing label DC Shoe Co. He shot to world fame through his series of Gymkhana videos that date back to 2008. We’ve shared the very first one at the bottom of this post. Block later built another successful brand known as Hoonigan, contributing to and growing petrolhead culture all over the world.

He went on to compete in the Rally America series and contested a few rounds of the WRC with Ford and was also a regular in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, which meant he competed on local soil. The American petrolhead more recently partnered with Audi as a brand ambassador to showcase the company’s electric vehicles, as you can see in his video.