Roosevelt. Kennedy. Bush. Some names echo through history, returning in waves as each new generation comes of age. These are families with a certain weight, impact, heritage; families whose last name alone can conjure respect, admiration, or even fear in those who hear it. Now, another family seeks to enter those vaunted, dynastic halls: The House of Block.
What started with a shoe company and a kid who loved Group B rally became a media empire and purveyor of seemingly all clothing except shoes, but it’s also birthed a race team that competes in the American Rally Association Championship. That team will run three Blocks in ARA competition this season: Father, mother, and fifteen-year-old daughter.
Ken Block appears to have left Subaru once again, moving from a Vermont SportsCar-built STI to a full-fat 2019 World Rally Championship-spec Hyundai i20 N. He’ll be using it to directly compete with his wife Lucy Block for the first time, as they’ve entered the same class for the upcoming season. Her Fiesta isn’t expected to run times competitive with Ken’s Hyundai, but stranger things have happened.
Lucy isn’t running the only Fiesta in the Block family, however. Lia Block, fresh off of racing 4,000-horsepower Corvettes in the Hoonicorn, will be putting her learner’s permit to use in a front-wheel-drive Fiesta. A rally co-driver counts as a “licensed adult” for driving instruction purposes, right? Can she count this as hours driven towards her license?
The 2022 ARA season kicked off with last weekend’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, during which Ken took second place both in his class and overall. Lucy, in her debut year of Open Four-Wheel-Drive, took seventh in class. Despite the two-wheel-drive classing, Lia actually placed between the two — fifth in her own class. Watch out, Ken. She’s coming for you.