
It seems like lately we’re losing a lot of motorsports legends, including Ken Black of NHRA Pro Stock drag racing fame. Black passed away on August 26 at the age of 79, leaving behind him a legacy of automotive performance excellence and a successful race team that’s still going.
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As a motorsports pioneer, Black helped get NHRA Pro Stock off the ground, then pushed the competition to new heights. Not only did he give six-time world champion Greg Anderson his start, he also shepherded another world champ, Jason Line. His team, KB Racing, helped build units for many other racers and is still churning out powerful cars as KB Titan Racing.
Himself a drag racer, Black cut his teeth at a drag strip when he was a teenager. While still in high school, in 1964 he entered his first race with a Chevy II Nova SS at Stardust International Raceway in Las Vegas, winning that faceoff. Bitten by the bug, he kept racing.
Later, after marrying his sweetheart Judy, the couple built a successful construction business in Las Vegas. Black used that financial success to fund his endeavors on the track. In fact, Vegas General Construction was on the side of his racecars, including on Greg Anderson’s Pro Stock car when he snagged his first win at Bristol back in 2001.
Back in 2014, Black was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame.
KB Titan Racing released an official statement about Ken Black’s passing, which reads in part, “It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dear friend, our coach, and the man who built KB Racing. His legacy will live on through our racing program, but more importantly, through each of the lives he touched. We are who we are because of him.”
Image via NHRA
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