The Athlete: KEN BLOCK
Episode: Rally Car Jump | Premiere: Feb. 12, 2007

Perry's Thoughts:
Ever since the Dukes of Hazard, I think it's been every red-blooded American boy's dream to get to jump a car 40 feet in the air, land it, and drive away. When it comes to jumping cars in the movies, although you can get height and distance, the same car seldom drives away, so I was very interested to see if Ken Block could actually fly a car over 100 feet, land, and drive away under the car's own power. From hitting the takeoff ramp and flying through the air, which looked like it was right out of a movie, to landing over 170 feet away on the landing ramp, Ken Block made it look effortless. I was truly impressed.

Eli's Thoughts:
Ken Block is a successful guy with a long history in action sports. He arrived at Lake Elsinore with his Subaru rally car and crew. He ripped the car around a bit — rally car driving is extremely cool! He brought Jesse to make the ramp, and before too long, there was this amazingly deep hole in the ground. I got a chance to go rally around a course with Ken and I can tell you this stuff is truly exciting. The sport requires split-second decisions and a real feel for the car. Ken started his jump at 100 feet, and when he hit the jump, you could not have asked for a better landing. He hit it perfectly and the jump was shaped to perfection. So Ken was like, "Let's move it back." On Stunt Day, Ken hit the jump at 135 feet and once again it was flawless, so they moved the jump back and Ken went right for it. He ended up overshooting the landing a bit and the car took a real hit. Luckily, Ken was OK, but the car would need some serious repair. In the end, he flew that car farther than I ever thought a car could fly, over 170 feet! His original goal was 100 feet and he blew that out by a wide margin. I wish Ken all the best in the future, and know with his attitude and skill he will have much more success to come.