Ken Block reveals 2014 livery, schedule, and a crazy crash from 2013 (VIDEO)

By Feb 18, 2014, 11:00 AM EST
0 Comments

Rally driver Ken Block has a flair for the dramatic, and has cultivated a huge new media following through his series of Gymkhana videos (like Gym 6, linked here) and other rally events.

He’ll have a busy 2014, competing in several different rally divisions including a full year of Red Bull Global Rallycross in his Monster-backed, Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta.

Here’s the official release and schedule:

—

Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block is proud to debut his 2014 livery and announce his full race schedule for the year.
“I’m stoked with how the new liveries for my Ford Fiestas have turned out, as well as the race schedule we’ve been able to put together for 2014,” said Block. “Once again I’ve been fortunate enough to put together a highly diverse schedule that has me going around the world. I’m competing in the full Global RallyCross Championship, doing a handful of Rally America events, competing in a WRC round in Spain, doing the Monza Rally Sprint for the first time ever with Valentino Rossi as a teammate, returning to the Monster Energy Gymkhana GRID finale in Madrid, heading back to Japan to do more Gymkhana demos and, most interestingly, racing in three of the World RallyCross Championship rounds for the first time ever. I’m pretty sure nobody has a better job than me this year!”
In addition to having an action-packed year planned, Block has once again reinvented his race look for the 2014 season with a graphics package that will be incorporated across a full line of signature product including apparel from Hoonigan, sunglasses from SPY and RC cars from HPI.
“Every year I’m challenged with outdoing my livery from the season before,” said Block. “Luckily, I think we were able to do it once again. This year’s livery mixes animal pattern and 8-bit, which I love. We’ve come up with a sort of digital zebra graphic that I think is awesome and also brings me back into that familiar black and white color scheme I had starting back in 2010. I think the fans are going to enjoy this look.”
To catch Block and his all-new livery in action, be sure to follow along this coming weekend as he takes part in Rally America’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, where Block will be looking to reignite his winning streak for that event.
Block’s 2014 schedule:
Global RallyCross Championship:
  • GRC Barbados: 5/18/14
  • GRC X Games Austin: 6/17/14
  • GRC Washington D.C.: 6/22/14
  • GRC New York: 7/20/14
  • GRC Charlotte: 7/26/14
  • GRC Detroit: 8/3/14
  • GRC Daytona: 8/23/14
  • GRC Los Angeles: 9/20/14
  • GRC Seattle: 9/27/14
  • GRC Las Vegas: 11/5/14
Stage Rally:
  • Rally America Rally in the 100 Acre Wood: 2/21-22
  • Rally America Suesquehannock Trail Performance Rally: 5/30-31
  • WRC Spain: 10/24-26
  • Monza Rally Show: 11/22-24
World RallyCross Championship:
  • WRxC Norway: 6/14-15
  • WRxC France: 9/6-7
  • WRxC Turkey: 10/11-12
Gymkhana demos:
  • Japan: 7/5-6
  • Gymkhana GRID, Madrid: 11/1-2

—

Meanwhile, apart from the 2014 preview, Block has one look back at how his 2013 Rally America Championship title quest ended. A single missed pace note – the word “in” was left off – caused a barrel roll of an accident. Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino relive the moment in the below video.

With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global stage

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
4 Comments

LE MANS, France — The V8 engine of the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro has a distinct growl that cannot go unnoticed even among the most elite sports cars in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When the Hendrick Motorsports crew fired up the car inside Garage 56, NASCAR chairman Jim France broke into a huge grin and gave a thumbs up.

“The only guy who didn’t cover his ears,” laughed seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

GARAGE 56 SPECS: Full comparison of NASCAR Cup car to Le Mans car

BUTTON’S BIG MOVE: Hendrick drone tour was NASCAR entryway for F1 champion

France has been waiting since 1962 – the year his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought him to his first 24 Hours of Le Mans – to hear the roar of a stock car at the most prestigious endurance race in the world.

A path finally opened when NASCAR developed its Next Gen car, which debuted last year. France worked out a deal to enter a car in a specialized “Innovative Car” class designed to showcase technology and development. The effort would be part of NASCAR’s 75th celebration and it comes as Le Mans marks its 100th.

Once he had the approval, France persuaded Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear – NASCAR’s winningest team, manufacturer and tire supplier – to build a car capable of running the twice-around-the-clock race.

The race doesn’t start until Saturday, but NASCAR’s arrival has already been wildly embraced and France could not be more thrilled.

“Dad’s vision, to be able to follow it, it took awhile to follow it up, and my goal was to outdo what he accomplished,” France told The Associated Press. “I just hope we don’t fall on our ass.”

The car is in a class of its own and not racing anyone else in the 62-car field. But the lineup of 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and Johnson has been fast enough; Rockenfeller put down a qualifying lap that was faster than every car in the GTE AM class by a full three seconds.

The Hendrick Motorsports crew won its class in the pit stop competition and finished fifth overall as the only team using a manual jack against teams exclusively using air jacks. Rick Hendrick said he could not be prouder of the showing his organization has made even before race day.

“When we said we’re gonna do it, I said, ‘Look, we can’t do this half-assed. I want to be as sharp as anybody out there,” Hendrick told AP. “I don’t want to be any less than any other team here. And just to see the reaction from the crowd, people are so excited about this car. My granddaughter has been sending me all these TikTok things that fans are making about NASCAR being at Le Mans.”

This isn’t NASCAR’s first attempt to run Le Mans. The late France Sr. brokered a deal in 1976, as America celebrated its bicentennial, to bring two cars to compete in the Grand International class and NASCAR selected the teams. Herschel McGriff and his son, Doug, drove a Wedge-powered, Olympia Beer-sponsored Dodge Charger, and Junie Donlavey piloted a Ford Torino shared by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson.

Neither car came close to finishing the race. McGriff, now 95 and inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in January, is in Le Mans as France’s guest, clad head-to-toe in the noticeable Garage 56 uniforms.

“I threw a lot of hints that I would like to come. And I’ve been treated as royalty,” McGriff said. “This is unbelievable to me. I recognize nothing but I’m anxious to see everything. I’ve been watching and seeing pictures and I can certainly see the fans love their NASCAR.”

The goal is to finish the full race Sunday and, just maybe, beat cars from other classes. Should they pull off the feat, the driver trio wants its own podium celebration.

“I think people will talk about this car for a long, long time,” said Rockenfeller, who along with sports car driver Jordan Taylor did much of the development alongside crew chief Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, a former crew chief who stepped into a projects role at Hendrick this year.

“When we started with the Cup car, we felt already there was so much potential,” Rockenfeller said. “And then we tweaked it. And we go faster, and faster, at Le Mans on the SIM. But you never know until you hit the real track, and to be actually faster than the SIM. Everybody in the paddock, all the drivers, they come up and they are, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’ and they were impressed by the pit stops. We’ve overachieved, almost, and now of course the goal is to run for 24 hours.”

The car completed a full 24-hour test at Sebring, Florida, earlier this year, Knaus said, and is capable of finishing the race. Button believes NASCAR will leave a lasting impression no matter what happens.

“If you haven’t seen this car live yet, it’s an absolute beast,” Button said. “When you see and hear it go by, it just puts a massive smile on your face.”

For Hendrick, the effort is the first in his newfound embrace of racing outside NASCAR, the stock car series founded long ago in the American South. Aside from the Le Mans project, he will own the Indy car that Kyle Larson drives for Arrow McLaren in next year’s Indianapolis 500 and it will be sponsored by his automotive company.

“If you’d have told me I’d be racing at Le Mans and Indianapolis within the same year, I’d never have believed you,” Hendrick told AP. “But we’re doing both and we’re going to do it right.”

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Fans gather around the NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that is the Garage 56 entry for the 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe (Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

General Motors is celebrating the achievement with a 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition and only 56 will be available to collectors later this year.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “A NASCAR stock car running at Le Mans is something fans doubted they would see again.”

The race hasn’t even started yet, but Hendrick has enjoyed it so much that he doesn’t want the project to end.

“It’s like a shame to go through all this and do all this, and then Sunday it’s done,” Hendrick said. “It’s just really special to be here.”