Ken Block: rally career, Gymkhana films and our interview with him

Ken Block (1967–2023) was an American rally driver, the co-founder of DC Shoes and the man behind Gymkhana, the stunt-driving films that made him famous far beyond rallying. He took up rallying at 37, won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood a record seven times, won five X Games medals and scored 18 World Rally Championship points, with a best of seventh in Mexico in 2013. He died in a snowmobile accident in Utah on 2 January 2023, aged 55.

SkiddMark interviewed Block in December 2011, while he was testing his Ford Fiesta at the DirtFish Rally School east of Seattle. He was 44, had just finished his second part-season in the WRC, and Gymkhana Four had been out for three months.

Early life and DC Shoes

Block was born in Long Beach, California, on 21 November 1967, according to The Henry Ford museum’s tribute. He grew up skateboarding and set up a printing business selling hand-screened T-shirts to skate shops; by 1992 it was earning more than $1 million a year. In 1994 he and Damon Way, brother of the professional skater Danny Way, launched DC Shoes, making the two its co-founders; the brand made footwear and clothing for action sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding (Sage). SkiddMark’s 2011 interview gave the founding year as 1993.

In March 2004 the surf brand Quiksilver agreed to buy DC Shoes. A report of the deal by the adviser Sage put it at about $88 million in cash and stock: $57 million in cash, 1.6 million Quiksilver shares and roughly $10 million of debt taken on, with up to $57 million more by 2007 if DC hit its targets. DC had sold more than $100 million of goods in 2003. NPR’s report of his death gave the price as $87 million. In 2011 Block was still DC’s chief brand officer, and SkiddMark’s interview put the company’s turnover at around $500 million in 2010.

He had raced motorcycles in his teens. “I was a skateboarder when I was a kid, then a snowboarder when I was older and I raced motorcycles when I was in my teens,” he said in 2011. “I’m not a marketing educated person, so I came from the perspective of expressing what came from the heart. It sounds kind of cheesy, but it was easy to market to myself.”

Rally career in America

Block’s national rally career ran from 2005 to 2022, first in Rally America and then in the American Rally Association (ARA), with Alex Gelsomino as his co-driver. He joined Rally America in 2005, scored five top-five finishes and was named Rookie of the Year (The Henry Ford).

Subaru Rally Team USA

For 2006 Subaru signed Block and Travis Pastrana as Subaru Rally Team USA. Block was second overall in Rally America that year, as SkiddMark reported in 2011. The ARA records that he won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Missouri seven times, more than anyone else; starting the 2022 season there, he called it “my favorite rally of the year” (DirtFish).

Ford and the Hoonigan Racing Division

In 2010 Block left Subaru for Ford and set up his own team in Park City, Utah. The name, Hoonigan, joined “hooligan” and “hoon”, Australian slang for a reckless driver (The Henry Ford). The Ford partnership lasted until 2021. In 2013 he was second in Rally America again, as he said after his first Global Rallycross win that year.

The ARA and the Hyundai title fight

Hoonigan rejoined the ARA full-time in 2021, with Block in a Škoda Fabia R5 and then a Vermont SportsCar Subaru WRX STI. For 2022 he drove a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, a 2019 car that had belonged to 2C Competition. DirtFish reported that its paddle shift could not be converted to the mechanical shift the series required, so the ARA imposed engine and turbo restrictions instead. His wife Lucy and their 15-year-old daughter Lia entered the same season.

The title came down to the final round, the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Michigan. Block won three stages on the opening loop to lead by ten seconds, then went off a slippery right-hander into the trees on stage 7, and Subaru’s release of 17 October 2022 records that Brandon Semenuk won the rally and the championship, with Block runner-up.

X Games medals and rallycross

Block won five X Games medals, all in rally and rallycross: three silver and two bronze. He also raced in the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) in the United States and the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Europe.

Ken Block’s X Games medals

He was third in the first X Games rally event in 2006 (SkiddMark, 2011). At X Games 13 in Los Angeles in 2007, he beat Colin McRae in their semi-final after McRae rolled on a barrier, then lost the final to Tanner Foust by 0.68 seconds after mis-shifting, says the Subaru Rally Team USA report. In 2008 his Subaru landed nose-first on the big jump and destroyed its radiator; neither he nor Dave Mirra could start the bronze race, so the race director declared a tie and both took bronze.

His next two medals came in rallycross. At X Games Los Angeles in 2012 he was second on a punctured tyre (“It was an honor to race with Sebastien Loeb, and to do it on a rim,” he said, as quoted by Racer X), and at X Games Munich in June 2013 he finished under a second behind Liam Doran for what Ford’s report called his third silver.

Global Rallycross Championship

Block raced a Ford Fiesta ST in the GRC. His first win came at the Las Vegas final round in 2013, which lifted him to third in the standings, Autoweek reported. He won the Las Vegas final again in 2014 but finished the season second, on 376 points to Joni Wiman’s 381, according to LSX Magazine’s report of the final.

FIA World Rallycross Championship

His World Rallycross debut, at Hell in Norway in June 2014, ended with third place in the final behind Petter Solberg and Reinis Nitiss; the same weekend he won the European Rallycross round run alongside it (Hoonigan Racing Division). He left the GRC after 2015 to race a Ford Focus RS RX in World RX full-time, with Andreas Bakkerud as team-mate. Ford and Hoonigan ended the programme after 2017. “Putting a lot more money into developing a new racecar to try to battle for the championship title just doesn’t make sense right now,” Block said, as quoted by The Drive.

World Rally Championship results

Block started 25 World Rally Championship rounds between 2007 and 2020 and was entered for a 26th, scoring 18 points in all. He never won a stage or finished on the podium; his best result was seventh at Rally Mexico in 2013. The table follows the juwra.com results database, which counts 26 entries including the 2011 Rally Portugal, where shakedown damage kept him out. DirtFish counted 25 starts.

Source: juwra.com, Ken Block’s WRC starts, read October 2026. Gelsomino co-drove on all 26 entries.

His best WRC result: seventh in Mexico

Rally Mexico in March 2013 was his only WRC start that year and his first in a WRC car for eight months. He ran as high as sixth before Chris Atkinson passed him on the final day, says Crash.net’s report. “There were some new, tighter and more technical stages added this year and while my normal driving style suits fast, flowing roads a bit better, I really enjoyed the new stages,” Block said.

What Block told SkiddMark about the WRC

After two part seasons, Block told SkiddMark he had done “6 or 7 events in the first year and 9 this year”, with a best stage time of fourth, on Rally France. He saw pace notes as the gap between him and the Europeans: “Coming from America we don’t have 2-pass recce where you write your own notes, starting from scratch against guys who’ve [been] doing it for many years has been a huge learning experience.” As a customer driver renting a car from M-Sport, he said, he lacked the testing time of the factory drivers. “Matthew Wilson has been racing a WRC car longer than I’ve actually been racing a rally car.”

He was proud of the points. “There’s only been 3 other Americans before me that have won WRC points, so actually more Americans have been on the Moon than have won WRC points!” NPR later described him as one of only four Americans to score in the championship.

The Gymkhana videos

The Gymkhana videos were Block’s series of stunt-driving films, released on YouTube from November 2008 to December 2018, with spin-offs called Climbkhana and Electrikhana after that. Each one is a single driver threading a car between obstacles, sideways, in a set location. The name comes from horse-riding contests in which riders complete set tasks in sequence (The Henry Ford).

How Gymkhana started

The first film was an accident, Block told SkiddMark in 2011. He had planned to enter a local gymkhana event in Southern California and asked Crawford Performance to build him a 530 hp Subaru Impreza STI; when the event was cancelled, he filmed the car instead. “When the first video came out DC wasn’t so involved with YouTube, so it went up on my personal website and in 3 months it had 11 million views. I eventually took it down because it cost so much money to host, so then we put it up on YouTube.” The YouTube upload of Ken Block Gymkhana Practice is dated 11 November 2008.

Every Gymkhana film

There were ten numbered Gymkhana films. The dates are those of the original YouTube uploads; the cars are from contemporary reports, and the settings from the films’ titles and those reports.

Sources: YouTube upload dates; SkiddMark (2011) for Practice; Motorsport.com’s list of the Petersen Museum’s Block cars for Two; The Henry Ford for Five; TFLcar for Six; New Atlas for Seven; Autocar for Eight; The Drive for Nine; GTPlanet for Ten.

Gymkhana Five was the first shot in a city. It took four days to film, and San Francisco briefly closed the Bay Bridge for it; the film had nearly 11.5 million views after three days, FordMuscle reported. The Henry Ford museum later acquired its Fiesta, with the suit, helmet, sunglasses and shoes Block wore for the shoot. For Gymkhana Eight, Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai was shut for filming, and the stunts included a backflip out of the Crown Prince of Dubai’s helicopter; the film appeared first on Ford Performance’s YouTube channel (Autocar).

How many views did Gymkhana get?

The eight numbered Gymkhana films still on their original channels had about 473 million YouTube views between them on 27 October 2026, and the four Climbkhana and Electrikhana films another 111 million. Gymkhana Five is the most watched.

Source: SkiddMark’s reading of each video page on YouTube, 27 October 2026. Gymkhana Eight is left out; it was first published on Ford Performance’s channel (Autocar).

The counts were already large when SkiddMark spoke to Block in December 2011. Gymkhana Four had 12.9 million views after three months, and Unruly Media’s Viral Video Chart had it fifth among branded videos of all time with 2.1 million shares; Gymkhana Three was second with 2.7 million. On those figures the series was heading for 150 million views since 2008.

The Hoonicorn, the Hoonitruck and the Audi S1 Hoonitron

From Gymkhana Seven the cars became one-offs. The Hoonicorn is a 1965 Ford Mustang on an ASD Motorsports tube chassis with RTR carbon-fibre bodywork, a 6.7-litre Roush Yates V8 of 845 hp and four-wheel drive through a Sadev six-speed gearbox (New Atlas). In 2016 it gained twin turbochargers and 1,400 hp, reported The Drive, and as the Hoonicorn V2 it climbed Pikes Peak in Climbkhana (September 2017).

The Hoonitruck is a 1977 Ford F-150 with a 914 hp twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 (GTPlanet; Motorsport.com for the year); it first appeared in Gymkhana Ten and climbed Tianmen Mountain in China for Climbkhana Two (November 2019). The Hoonitron was built by Audi Sport as an electric one-off for Block, with two motors, four-wheel drive, 500 kW and a carbon-fibre chassis, according to Audi’s press release of December 2023 (Audi MediaCenter, archived copy). Block drove it along the Las Vegas Strip in the first episode, Electrikhana, filmed in August 2022 and released on 25 October 2022 (The Henry Ford); Audi said that episode reached more than 100 million people.

Gymkhana as marketing

Block treated the films as advertising. Gymkhana reached shoppers DC’s skate marketing missed, “getting the name and product in front of the kids that go shop at those more mainstream outlets”, he told SkiddMark. Gymkhana Two’s subtitle was a joke at branded video’s expense: “That’s why we called it an ‘Infomercial’, we were just poking fun at branded videos.” And he was blunt about the results: “The first time was a bit of a fluke, it was not really intended to be that successful, it was just for fun, but since then it’s been a very calculated and deliberate marketing exercise.”

Cars worked better than skateboards for this, he said: “If a guy does a kick-flip down 25 stairs, does the consumer really know that it’s harder than 10 stairs? Whereas most people have been in cars and can relate to it.”

Ken Block in his own words: the SkiddMark interview

The interview, by Steve Davies, ran on 9 December 2011, after an hour’s conversation fitted in while Block tested his H.F.H.V. Ford Fiesta at DirtFish. The article was part-sponsored by DC Shoes. Besides Gymkhana and the WRC, he talked about his race number, hooning, Colin McRae and Formula 1.

Why did Ken Block race with number 43?

“It doesn’t really mean anything, it actually was my favourite number as a kid, so I was using it on my dirt bike and then when I started racing cars,” Block said. “Coincidentally, I would love to claim this is the thought behind it, although it really isn’t, but the letters ‘D’ and ‘C’ are the 4th and 3rd letters of the alphabet.”

Hooning and road safety

At the Melbourne stop of the 2011 Gymkhana World Tour, Block had asked fans to “hoon responsibly”. In Australia the word has a harder meaning, he explained, “there’s even ‘Hoon Laws’”, so he chose his words there with care. “You won’t find a video anywhere, or photos of me actually doing something on the street that might put anyone else in danger or myself.” His advice to anyone wanting to race: “Go to rally school, learn how to operate the vehicle before you go out and operate it on a stage road.”

Colin McRae

McRae phoned Block shortly before his death, while Block was in New Zealand filming his rally car with snowboarders. “When I told him about it, he was so stoked to hear about it. Unfortunately he never got to see it because he passed away before it came out.”

Kimi Räikkönen, Formula 1 and the Race of Champions

Of Kimi Räikkönen, then leaving rallying to return to Formula 1, Block said: “He has more talent in his little pinky than I do in my whole body.” He would have liked a run in a Formula 1 car: Pirelli had tried to arrange one in the old Toyota it used for tyre testing, “but I physically do not fit in the Toyota car because I’m too tall.” He had never been asked to the Race of Champions. “I come from the standpoint of a fan so it’s very cool for me to meet those guys, because genuinely inside I’m still just a fan.”

Ken Block in Britain

Block’s British appearances included Wales Rally GB, where he was 21st in 2010 and ninth in 2011 (juwra.com), and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In June 2011, two SkiddMark readers photographed him testing the “hybrid” Fiesta for Gymkhana Four at the RAF Brawdy airfield in Pembrokeshire, as SkiddMark reported at the time. That year SkiddMark was also at Block’s launch event for Codemasters’ DiRT 3 game at Battersea in London; Block said Codemasters had done “a great job at incorporating Gymkhana into the game”. In May 2016 he raced the World RX round at Lydden Hill in Kent.

How did Ken Block die?

Block died on 2 January 2023 when the snowmobile he was riding up a steep slope in the Mill Hollow area of Wasatch County, Utah, turned on its end and landed on top of him. The sheriff’s office took the call at about 2pm; county search and rescue crews, Utah State Parks and the US Forest Service went to the scene, and he was pronounced dead there (KJZZ, Salt Lake City; NPR). He had been riding with a group but was alone when it happened, The Independent reported. He was 55, lived in Park City, and left his wife, Lucy, and three children. Hours earlier he had posted pictures of heavy snow at his Utah ranch on Instagram (NPR).

The sheriff’s office said in a statement: “We are saddened to hear of the loss of Kenneth and our hearts are with his family and friends so deeply affected.” Hoonigan’s statement began: “It’s with our deepest regrets that we can confirm that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today.” It went on: “Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed.”

What happened after his death

The FIA withdrew the number 43 from the 2023 World Rally Championship (DirtFish, 6 January 2023). “Given the enormous contribution our great friend Ken Block made to motorsport … it is entirely appropriate that his #43 will be withdrawn from use during the 2023 WRC season,” said the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The ARA retired the number permanently at the 2023 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood; only the Block family may use it. Lucy and Lia Block both returned to competition at that rally, and the family set up the 43 Institute, a non-profit meant, in the ARA’s words, to carry on “Ken Block’s greatest legacy: creating paths of opportunity for the exceptionally driven who may lack the proper support system”.

Electrikhana Two, filmed in Mexico City in November 2022, a few weeks before the accident, was released on 6 December 2023. Audi said finishing it had been close to the family’s heart; for this film the Hoonitron had been made lighter and given simulated gear changes. Nine of his cars, among them the Gymkhana Two Impreza, the Hoonitruck, the Hoonitron and the 2016 Focus RS RX, were later shown together for the first time at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, in an exhibition called The People’s Champ, Motorsport.com reported in January 2026.

Ken Block’s main results

Block’s best results were runner-up finishes in national championships and five X Games medals; he won no world-championship event.

Questions

Did Ken Block ever win a WRC rally?

No. In 26 World Rally Championship entries between 2007 and 2020 he never won a stage or reached the podium; his best finish was seventh at Rally Mexico in 2013, and he scored 18 points in all.

How old was Ken Block when he started rallying?

He was 37 when he began his national rally career in Rally America in 2005, the year he was named the series’ Rookie of the Year.

Who was Ken Block’s co-driver?

Alex Gelsomino, who sat beside him on all 26 of his WRC entries and in his American national rallies, including the 2022 ARA season.

What was Ken Block’s last video?

Electrikhana Two, filmed in Mexico City in the Audi S1 Hoonitron in November 2022 and released on 6 December 2023, eleven months after his death.

Where is the Gymkhana Five car now?

The Henry Ford museum acquired the 2012 Ford Fiesta from Gymkhana Five, with the suit, helmet, sunglasses and shoes Block wore, and shows it in its Driven to Win: Racing in America exhibition.

What does Hoonigan mean?

It joins “hooligan” and “hoon”, Australian slang for a reckless driver. Block used it for his team, set up in Park City, Utah, in 2010, and for his company, Hoonigan Industries.

Is Lia Block Ken Block’s daughter?

Yes. Lia Block was 15 when she entered the 2022 American Rally Association season alongside her father, and returned to the series in 2023 after his death.

Sources

• SkiddMark, Steve Davies, “The Accidental Hero: an interview with Ken Block”, 9 December 2011: all quotations from Block not otherwise credited, DC Shoes and Gymkhana figures for 2011, 2006 Rally America and X Games results.
• SkiddMark, “Ken Block visits Wales to shoot Gymkhana FOUR”, June 2011: testing at RAF Brawdy.
• The Henry Ford, “Remembering Ken Block”, January 2023: birth, early business, DC Shoes founding, 2005 season, Hoonigan name, Ford years, Gymkhana Five car.
• Sage, “Quiksilver to acquire DC Shoes”, March 2004: terms of the sale.
• NPR, Emily Olson, “Rally car driver and DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block dies in a snowmobile accident”, 3 January 2023: the accident, sale price, X Games medals, WRC points, the Instagram post.
• The Independent, “Ken Block: Top Gear star and Hoonigan founder dies in snowmobile accident aged 55”, 3 January 2023: sheriff’s statement, family.
• KJZZ, “Rally driver Ken Block killed in Wasatch County snowmobiling incident”, 2 January 2023: place and time of the accident, the response, the sheriff’s statement.
• American Rally Association, “American Rally Association to retire 43”, 2023: 100 Acre Wood record, number retired, 43 Institute.
• DirtFish, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC for the 2022 ARA, 18 March 2022; “FIA retires #43 from WRC in 2023 as tribute to Block”, 6 January 2023.
• Subaru of America, “Subaru and Brandon Semenuk win 2022 American Rally Association championship”, 17 October 2022: the 2022 decider.
• Vermont SportsCar (Subaru Rally Team USA), X Games 13 report, August 2007, and X Games 14 report, August 2008.
• Racer X, SPY X Games recap, 3 July 2012; Racecar.com, “Block earns X Games silver and Heikkinen bronze” (Ford report), 29 June 2013.
• Autoweek, first GRC win, October 2013; LSX Magazine, 2014 GRC final in Las Vegas: championship points.
• Hoonigan Racing Division, “Ken Block takes third at his first-ever World RX event”, 15 June 2014 (archived copy).
• The Drive, Ford and Hoonigan leaving World Rallycross, 2017; Hoonicorn at 1,400 hp, 13 October 2016; Gymkhana Nine, 13 September 2016.
• juwra.com, Ken Block’s WRC starts, read 27 October 2026: the WRC table.
• Crash.net, “Best yet for Block in Mexico”, March 2013.
• YouTube, the original uploads on the DC Shoes, Hoonigan, KenBlockRacing and Toyo Tires USA channels, read 27 October 2026: release dates and view counts.
• TFLcar, Gymkhana Six, November 2013; New Atlas, the Hoonicorn, November 2014; Autocar, Gymkhana 8, 1 March 2016; GTPlanet, Gymkhana 10, December 2018; FordMuscle, making of Gymkhana 5, July 2012.
• Audi MediaCenter (archived copy), “Electrikhana 2: final drift video with Ken Block released”, 6 December 2023: the Hoonitron and both Electrikhana films.
• Motorsport.com, The People’s Champ exhibition, 8 January 2026: the Petersen exhibition and its car list.

This article was written in October 2026 to replace SkiddMark’s interview of 9 December 2011, “The Accidental Hero”, whose quotations it keeps.