“IF IN DOUBT, GO FLAT OUT.” - Ken Block

As we all are now aware of, on January 2, 2023 and in a remote and snowy area of Wasatch County in Utah, Monster Energy athlete, visionary and family member was killed in a tragic snowmobile accident.

An Instagram post from Hoonigan Industries read, the automotive lifestyle brand founded by Block, “It’s with our deepest regrets that we can conform that Ken Block passed away in a snowmobile accident today. Ken was a visionary, a pioneer, and an icon. And most importantly, a father and a husband.”

In the days that were to follow the stunning announcement, other members of the global motor racing and action sports communities as well as the Monster Energy family revealed to the world the profound influence 55 year-old Block had on these sports, cultures, lifestyles and people themselves.

“Ken was my biggest fan and I was his biggest fan,” explained a saddened Oliver Solberg, Monster Energy World Rally Championship competitor and son of 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg. “Especially when I was a kid. I looked up to him. Ken brought rallying to a different kind of fan. Ken really showed how we can do rally in different ways and just enjoy ourselves. Yes, he’s meant a lot to me in that way to build up my brand, and we have the relationship through Monster Energy together. Ken was a fantastic guy and very helpful, and he always wanted the best for people, and that’s what I loved so much about him.”

Offered George Russell, who became a member of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in 2022 and quickly established himself as a World Championship contender, “If in doubt, go flat out.” Explained Russell, who as a first year member of the Silver Arrows outfit, placed fourth overall in the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship, “I don’t know how it works and if it works in F1, however I’m going to be totally honest, this was something I said about five years ago. It came from Ken Block. It has stuck with me ever since. Yeah, I guess if you’re ever in doubt, you’ve just got to go flat out. That’s what I do. I drive. I race. Believe in yourself. I guess saying “If in doubt, go flat out” is just another way to say that. We’ll all miss Ken so much.”

Proclaimed Monster Energy Chairman and CO-CEO Rodney Sacks, “Ken has been part of the Monster Energy family since 2005. He was one of our first brand ambassadors and was instrumental in exposing the Monster lifestyle to the world. He embodied it. He didn’t even need to say a word – he just did what he did, and proudly wore the M-Claw.”

Offered Monster Energy Vice Chairman and Co-CEO Hilton Schlosberg, “This is a very sad day for the Monster Family. We have lost one of our OGs… Ken was one of our first, one of our biggest, and one of our best. And he was a true gentleman. He was a very special individual who pulled off the most incredible feats. Although the man left us far too soon, his name will live on forever. I can’t believe I’m writing these words today… he will be very sorely missed. Our deepest condolences to Ken’s beautiful wife Lucy, and his amazing children Lia, Kira, and Mika. Rest in peace, my friend.”

It was in the year 2004, while Block was the Chief Brand Officer at DC Shoes – an action sports brand founded by Block in 1994 – when he became intrigued with the form of motorsport known as rally racing. Brought to the Californian’s attention by close friend and DC Shoes athlete and driver Travis Pastrana. Block sold DC Shoes to Quiksilver in 2004 for $88 million. From that point forward, Block rapidly established himself as a revolutionary in motorsport. By the end of 2005, he was already training to become a national-class rally competitor and competing in the first events of his burgeoning rally racing career.

That’s right about the time that Monster Energy in Corona, California came calling on him. Keen to work in tandem with Block to introduce the Monster Energy brand energy drink to the action sport world and communities, on August 3, 2006 it was written:

“Carlsbad, California – Monster Energy announced today that skateboard/snowboard industry footwear & apparel icon turned professional rally car racer Ken Block and his open class Subaru WRX STI for the remainder of the 2006 Rally America season and the upcoming rally competition featured in the 2006 Summer ESPN X Games.”

Block and Subaru were quick to hit critical mass with Monster Energy, a major and prolific highlight coming in the August of 2006 when Block battled with Travis Pastrana and 1995 World Rally Champion Colin McRea inside the sold-out Home Depot Center in Los Angeles at the 2006 Summer X Games. After all was said and done on the frantic 22-turn, one-mile rallycross circuit, Block impressed both the action sports and motorsports communities by powering to an incredible bronze medal finish.

“It’s all good,” said Block to this writer inside the Home Depot Center that sunny August afternoon. “The X Games was an incredible event, and I’m really stoked to have that medal. But one thing about that X Games event: I’ve never been under that kind of pressure in my life before. I’ve built a business and I hired and fired all kinds of people, and I’ve gone through lawsuits and acquisitions and all kinds of stuff, but nothing compares to that second where I was on national TV, and in front of 40,000 live people, and I had to go out and perform for, like, two minutes to either keep a medal or lose it—I’ve never experienced pressure like that!”

In the immediate years to come, Ken Block continued to flourish and build his name in the global motorsports communities. Block would become the Rally America rookie of the year, would continue to excel in rallycross and the X Games and would become the first American driver to line up in the World Rally Championship. Concurrently, during the period, Block formed his own motorsports company, Hoonigan Industries. Hyped as a new era lifestyle brand for wild eyed motor racing enthusiasts, Hoonigan melded together the spirit of auto racing, action sports and the rapidly growing Monster Energy influence.

Known as the HHIC, aka Head Hoonigan In Charge, swervedriving, tire slaying ace Ken Block had a heavy hand in coining the term Hoonigan. Loosely defined as “a person who operates a motor vehicle in an aggressive and unorthodox manner, consisting of, but not limited to, drifting, burnouts, doughnuts as well as acts of automobile aeronautics; One who hoons.”

Got all that? Yes, with his hooning antics and way of rubber boiling life, Ken Block, age 53, has created such a badass behind the wheel image for himself that it can be argued that the Californian is the most popular, prolific and straight up outlandish motorsports icon here on Planet Earth. A competitor who got started out in 2005 in the shape of the Rally America Championship, Block is the mastermind behind the Hoonigan brand, a brand through Block’s deft talents in design, video conceptualization and production, and skilled outlandishness behind the steering wheel, has racked up an astonishing 1 billion YouTube views, not to mention awards, accolades, and appreciation from motorsports enthusiasts the world over. Furthermore, in 2021, Audi came calling on Block to help usher the German brand into the modern electric age.

In 1932 German auto manufacturer Audi merged with automobile companies Horch, DKW and Wanderer to form Auto Union. During this time, Auto Union coined the line: “Vorsprung durch Technik”, or “Being Ahead through Technology.” The modern era for Audi began in the 1960s. When Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen. In 1965 the brand was relaunched as Audi with the “Being Ahead through Technology” line literally stamped into the company’s processes and products. Flash forward some nearly 60 years and the aforementioned slogan totally pulsated true with Audi’s recent relationship with Ken Block. 54 years of age and a rally and rallycross competitor through the Hoonigan Racing Division, Block’s world renowned and world-famous Gymkhana motorsports YouTube videos have drawn nearly 600 million views. “Audi is the brand that ignited my brand for motorsport,” said Ken Block in a release titled, “Welcome! Audi electrifies with U.S. star Ken Block and dated September 21, 2021.” “I am extremely excited to start this new chapter. Together, we will develop innovative projects and push the boundaries of electric mobility.”

“I’m lucky that I still get to do some amazing things with amazing race cars, and it still keeps sort of expanding,” pointed out Block to this writer during the summer of 2022. “I have been able to keep a good base in what I truly love and what started me in all of this, and that was rally. At the heart of it all I’m a competitor,” continued Block. “I love to get out there and race and that’s the real passion for me. The flipside of that is that I’m a marketing person and a design person, and that’s my background and history with DC Shoes and Hoonigan and that sort of thing. So with my race career I get to go out and be competitive and race and enjoy that side of it, but I also get to do a lot of creative projects from helping design crazy vehicles to doing incredible and creative marketing projects like the Gymkhana series. It’s just been growing and getting even better and better because that whole creativity side actually stepped up to a whole other level in starting to work with Audi. Audi has brought me on not to compete, but to help them promote the electrification of their vehicles and to do that in a fun and creative way. Audi brought me on to help promote the rest of the line, from production cars to what sort of crazy Hooning you can do with a custom designed Gymkhana car."

“I’m one of those lucky people that I have talents in multiple different ways and the automotive world gives me the opportunity to combine them all in a very unique way,” pointed out a very appreciative Block. “I’m maximizing that. I’ve got this opportunity, and we’re doing the best job that we can do with it, and I’m loving it. It’s just one of things where it’s like sometimes be careful what you ask for because now my life is completely encapsulated in this opportunity as a race car driver to not only go out and race really rad stuff, but to be able to do all the marketing and design and creativity that I can possibly dream of.”

Yes, sadly, Ken Block is no longer with us. However, his memory and legend burns brightly with all at Monster Energy, a company Block was admirable of and full in step with at the time of his passing.

“I’ve been into Monster Energy for a number of years now and see it as a positive for both parties to align myself with a company that gives so much back to the action sports and motorsports communities.”

Power on Ken Block. Power on.

Remembering Ken Block | #KB43VER