Ken Block and Rob Dyrdek have a long business relationship and friendship which continued to the day that Block died in a snowmobile accident.
The 55-year-old rally driver and YouTube star was friends with Dyrdek for nearly three decades, when their shared love of skateboarding, motor racing and sneakers brought them together.
Block co-founded the footwear company DC Shoes in 1994 and the following year, the company sponsored professional skateboarder (and later, MTV star) Dyrdek.
For the next 20 years, Dyrdek was sponsored by DC but halfway through that sponsorship, Block and his co-founders sold the company to Quicksilver for a reported $88 million deal ($138 million adjusted for inflation), and Block embarked on his rally-driving career.
With the growth of social media, Block and Dyrdek, the star of shows like Rob & Big and Ridiculousness, came together again to film a number of videos for their YouTube channels and social media projects, with the clips getting multi-million views each.
Block's death was confirmed in an Instagram post on Monday by executives at his clothing label, Hoonigan Industries.
The statement on social media read: "It's with our deepest regrets that we can confirm 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 husband. He will be incredibly missed."
Since his passing, Dyrdek shared a photo of himself and Block on Instagram alongside a lengthy tribute to his longtime friend.
"My heart is broken. Thank you for being such a good friend, mentor and inspiration in my life for over 30 years. I don't know who I would have become without your support and guidance over the years," Dyrdek wrote. "We went from drinking 40oz and gambling for quarters to revolutionizing the skate shoe game and turning skate video skit to a TV career. Every single idea I ever wanted to do you believed and helped me make it happen.
"When you stepped away from DC to pursue Rally I couldn't have imagined how much of impact it would end up having on motorsports. Truly the only person in the history of sport to build and sell a company that promoted the worlds best athletes then become a super star athlete himself. It is why you are beyond all other legends in this arena."
Dyrdek continued: "I was always so proud of who you became and so honored to be so close to you. We did so many amazing things together over the years that I will cherish forever. I am so grateful that we [were] able to get together and have dinner last month.
"I just can't wrap my head around that being our final moment. I am just so grateful that I got to hug you good bye one last time."
Dyrdek concluded his post with a message to the family that Block leaves behind:
"My deepest condolences to the entire Block family. My heart hurts so deeply for Lucy, Lia, Kira and Mika because I know how much love and life there was yet to experience."
In November 2022, Block shared a video clip of himself and Dyrdek as they went head-to-head in big and small versions of Block's Gymkhana car.
The pair put together a number of videos in which Dyrdek races mini versions of Block's racing cars, which delighted fans of the pair.
Captioning one of the videos, which was shared on TikTok, Block had written: "My good friend Rob Dyrdek is always full of energy and jokes (if you hadn't noticed from his MTV hit shows Fantasy Factory, Ridiculousness, etc.) and I got quite the kick out of his reactions to my Hyundai i20 WRC rally car.
"He and I have shared a love of cars over the years - and he even had a cameo in Gymkhana TWO, went head-to-head with me in Gymkhana 2.1 (Rob in a mini version of my Gymkhana car) and he's even did a "kickflip" in a car for his show Fantasy Factory."
My good friend Rob Dyrdek is always full of energy and jokes (if you hadn’t noticed from his MTV hit shows Fantasy Factory, Ridiculousness, etc.) and I got quite the kick out of his reactions to my Hyundai i20 WRC rally car. He and I have shared a love of cars over the years - and he even had a cameo in Gymkhana TWO, went head-to-head with me in Gymkhana 2.1 (Rob in a mini version of my Gymkhana car) and he’s even did a “kickflip” in a car for his show Fantasy Factory. For more, click the link in my bio. #Hyundaii20WRC #HyundaiUSA
♬ original sound - Ken BlockIn news that shocked fans of Block on Monday, the local sheriff's office said in a statement that the racing driver was riding a snowmobile up a steep slope in Wasatch County, Utah when the vehicle upended and landed on top of him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff's office added that Block had been riding with a group shortly before he passed away, but was alone at the time of the crash.
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