US - Ken Block enters The 2006 One Lap of America
May-07 2006 / 11:22 EDT

Ken Block, a professional rally driver and the Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes, will undertake the 2006 Tire Rack One Lap of America, May 5th through 13th, 2006. The 2006 One Lap of America, now in its 23rd year, pits drivers on a 4000 mile trek across the USA with stops at race tracks and drag strips where entrants compete in time trial competitions. Block, who currently leads the Rally America National Championship driving for Subaru Rally Team USA, will drive a Vermont SportsCar prepared 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI entered on behalf of DC Shoes and Subaru Rally Team USA.

The event, a serious test of both driver and race vehicle, prohibits support crews while submitting drivers to thousands of miles of highway travel separated by high speed timed runs at eight unique race tracks. Competition cars may be heavily modified but must remain street legal and on street tires. "I am doing the event for fun, but as a professional rally driver, any seat time is good practice," explains Block. "I do not have much tarmac track experience and this is my first time ever competing in any type of tarmac track race! So I am looking at this event as a good week of fun competition in a new area of driving for me."

Block will drive a modified 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI prepared through a unique collaboration between Subaru Rally Team USA and DC Shoes. It is based on a performance platform to compete on tarmac, yet visually designed from the perspective of DC Shoes. The car's graphics incorporate two patterns used in DC lines (shoes and apparel): A DC logo camouflage pattern and pin-stripping. The logo camo pattern is used on the side and back of the car and ties into the bright blue color of the rims. The car also features a flat black hood (inspired from older competition rally cars where the flat paint was used to cut down on glare), roof and trunk lid that each feature the added touch and style of pin-stripping. The combination of the two patterns gives the car a unique look but also features functionality helpful for this long event.

The versatile platform of and Subaru technologies in the 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI lends itself to competitive performance on both gravel and tarmac. Style and functionality converge with the addition of a carbon fiber rear spoiler as found on the Subaru Impreza WRC2006 rally car. The engine has been massaged to produce in excess of 400hp, while the car's handling prowess has been optimized with a range of parts from STI (Subaru Tecnica International) and SPT (Subaru Performance Tuning), the official performance parts line for Subaru.

Block first thought of entering the One Lap of America after competing in the notorious Gumball 3000 Rally last year, a star studded high speed romp across Europe. "I really enjoyed the Gumball 3000 Rally last year and I wanted to do an event that was similar yet different," said Block. "The One Lap intrigued me because of it's similarity to a real competition rally, with transits between competition stages, but with a more extended cross country route."