Cars
2006 Subaru WRX STi with 530 awhp
2008 Subaru WRX STi with 566 awhp
Both cars were prepared by Crawford Performance
Early Life
Ken Block has been into extreme sports since very early in his life when he picked up skateboarding when he was only Seven. He tried a new hobby when he was 12 and that was riding and racing motocross bikes.
DC Shoes
DC Shoes is the skateboard shoe brand that Block and Damon Way started in 1994. They also make footwear for other extreme sports such as snowboarding, surfing, bmx, and motocross. Block started printing T-shirts in 1989 and eventually called it Eightball Clothing. He then met a guy named Damon Way at a community college they both attended and Way helped him find shops that would sell his clothing. Damon Way's brother, Danny Way, was a pro skateboarder and he endorsed their line. Their line was a big hit and very popular with skateboarding shops. In 1992 Block and Way started another company called Droors, that made jeans. Their business then was incorporated as Circus Distribution, inc. in 1993. DC Shoes was then created in 1994. The initials stand for Droors Clothing Shoes. Ken Block became the designer of the shoes since ther was nobody else to take the role. DC has progressed very far and is a very well known company.
Block's Rallying Career
Block was always a fan of rallying. Ever since he car remember it was his favorite type of racing He began rally racing in 2005 and progressed really fast. He actually won the Rally America Rookie Of The Year award. In his first year of rally racing he placed fifth or better in five competitions. Also in 2005 in the Rally America National Championship he placed fourth overall. During the next year's Rally America National Championship he got in second place. In 2006, X-games had their the first rally competition and Block placed third and earned the bronze medal. During 2007 he placed third in the Rally America National Championship, and finished third in the 2007 X-games.
Ken Block's Other Achievements
Outside of his rallying career and DC shoes he has done a couple of pretty neat things. How a lot of people know him by is the few videos that he has made. Probably his most famous video is his Gymkhana practice video. Just that one video was viewed more that 20 million times. Gymkhana is a motor sport that tests the drivers skill and it is timed. There are obstacles that makes the drivers perform multiple driving skills. The drivers also use drifting to maneuver around these obsticles. The next video he has is where he went to DC's mountain lab in Park City, Utah and took his rally car on the snowboard park. he even jumped some of the kickers with the snow boarders. After the shoot he was then on the cover of Snowboarder magazine and he was also featured in the 0-60 magazine. In 2006 he was on the Dicsovery Channel show "Stunt Junkies". They based the whole episode on him planning to jump his rally car. It ended up with him jumping his car a total of 171 feet. The first gymkhana video that DC created had a lot of hype so they decided to do another video in 2009. It was called "Gymkhana two, the infomercial". It was based on the same concept of the first video, but with a lot more special effects. It was also a big hit because the first video was a huge hit, and everybody that saw it just wanted to see more.
Quotes
"What we did in New Zealand, with the snowboarders? I was just having fun. The thing is, growing up skateboarding and racing dirt bikes, competition was only a very small percentage of the time that I spent riding or skating. With rallying, it's the exact opposite - 95 percent of my time in the car, I'm here racing. That's why I like to go out and play with the car if I can. I just really enjoy it."
Ken Block's Sponsors
DC
Subaru
Moster Energy
SPT
STI
BFGoodrich Tires
Motul Lubricants
Exedy
Alpinestars
Recaro
GReddy
Vermont SportsCar
Born
November 21, 1967
Birthplace
Long Beach California
Cars
2006 Subaru WRX STi with 530 awhp
2008 Subaru WRX STi with 566 awhp
Both cars were prepared by Crawford Performance
Early Life
Ken Block has been into extreme sports since very early in his life when he picked up skateboarding when he was only Seven. He tried a new hobby when he was 12 and that was riding and racing motocross bikes.
DC Shoes
DC Shoes is the skateboard shoe brand that Block and Damon Way started in 1994. They also make footwear for other extreme sports such as snowboarding, surfing, bmx, and motocross. Block started printing T-shirts in 1989 and eventually called it Eightball Clothing. He then met a guy named Damon Way at a community college they both attended and Way helped him find shops that would sell his clothing. Damon Way's brother, Danny Way, was a pro skateboarder and he endorsed their line. Their line was a big hit and very popular with skateboarding shops. In 1992 Block and Way started another company called Droors, that made jeans. Their business then was incorporated as Circus Distribution, inc. in 1993. DC Shoes was then created in 1994. The initials stand for Droors Clothing Shoes. Ken Block became the designer of the shoes since ther was nobody else to take the role. DC has progressed very far and is a very well known company.
Block's Rallying Career
Block was always a fan of rallying. Ever since he car remember it was his favorite type of racing He began rally racing in 2005 and progressed really fast. He actually won the Rally America Rookie Of The Year award. In his first year of rally racing he placed fifth or better in five competitions. Also in 2005 in the Rally America National Championship he placed fourth overall. During the next year's Rally America National Championship he got in second place. In 2006, X-games had their the first rally competition and Block placed third and earned the bronze medal. During 2007 he placed third in the Rally America National Championship, and finished third in the 2007 X-games.
Ken Block's Other Achievements
Outside of his rallying career and DC shoes he has done a couple of pretty neat things. How a lot of people know him by is the few videos that he has made. Probably his most famous video is his Gymkhana practice video. Just that one video was viewed more that 20 million times. Gymkhana is a motor sport that tests the drivers skill and it is timed. There are obstacles that makes the drivers perform multiple driving skills. The drivers also use drifting to maneuver around these obsticles. The next video he has is where he went to DC's mountain lab in Park City, Utah and took his rally car on the snowboard park. he even jumped some of the kickers with the snow boarders. After the shoot he was then on the cover of Snowboarder magazine and he was also featured in the 0-60 magazine. In 2006 he was on the Dicsovery Channel show "Stunt Junkies". They based the whole episode on him planning to jump his rally car. It ended up with him jumping his car a total of 171 feet. The first gymkhana video that DC created had a lot of hype so they decided to do another video in 2009. It was called "Gymkhana two, the infomercial". It was based on the same concept of the first video, but with a lot more special effects. It was also a big hit because the first video was a huge hit, and everybody that saw it just wanted to see more.
Quotes
"What we did in New Zealand, with the snowboarders? I was just having fun. The thing is, growing up skateboarding and racing dirt bikes, competition was only a very small percentage of the time that I spent riding or skating. With rallying, it's the exact opposite - 95 percent of my time in the car, I'm here racing. That's why I like to go out and play with the car if I can. I just really enjoy it."
Ken Block's Sponsors
DC
Subaru
Moster Energy
SPT
STI
BFGoodrich Tires
Motul Lubricants
Exedy
Alpinestars
Recaro
GReddy
Vermont SportsCar
Citations
(n.d.). Ken block #43. Retrieved from http://www.kenblockracing.com/#bio
(n.d.). Ken block's gymkhana two project. Retrieved from http://auto.dcshoes.com/features/ken-block-blog/
(n.d.). Ken block close to wrc deal. Retrieved from http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/ken-block-close-to-wrc-deal/
(n.d.). Driver: ken block #43. Retrieved from http://rally.subaru.com/rallyteam.html
Hellwig, Ed. (2009, November 12). Ken block's gymkhana faq. Retrieved from http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2009/11/ken-blocks-gymkhana-faq.html