Given the worldwide popularity of hard enduro, the Kenda Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro was proof that with the right organization, a good format, a difficult course and support from the top riders such an event can successfully be held on American soil. The rocky terrain surrounding the Trials Training Center was on par with the difficulty level of most hard enduros, and almost as soon as the event was over, the riders, teams and spectators were buzzing about a future edition of the race.
When you think about extreme enduros and nasty off-road racing, Europe usually comes to mind. Here in the United States we’ve seen events like Last Man Standing and some National Enduros get pretty brutal, but for years the U.S. extreme off-road race scene has been dead. The inaugural Kenda Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro (TKO) in Sequatchie, Tennessee, brought extreme off-road racing right here to the States. It was rocky, it was brutal and we hope it is here to stay.
Last week’s Cycle News (Sept. 7 issue) featured the Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro (TKO) in a 6-page feature titled TKO for Brown (pages 102-107) with many photos. An excerpt:
Brown led every lap of the final. He blasted to the front right off the start and opened up a small lead. Knowing any small mistake could mean disaster Brown rode conservatively and chose his lines carefully every lap.
Webb, however, had nothing to lose and went after Brown. The Beta rider had fallen in the first turn and was hammering it around the course. His aggressive riding style carried him right up to Brown late in the race. But when he was within striking distance on the last lap, Webb tipped over, which was just enough to give Brown some breathing room and eventual win.
After nearly 40 minutes of racing, Brown was happy to see the checkered flag. “Was tougher than anything I have ever done,” Brown said. “At the halfway mark, I thought I would not be able to finish, but I was leading so I kept pushing.”
We here at the TTC would also like to send out a HUGE thank you to all who helped us put on the First Annual Tennessee Knock Out Extreme Enduro.
We know it was a lot of hard work and we sure appreciate everyone’s special effort to make it happen. This event was a great success and we could not have done it without these people:
Greg and Wendy Clark, Wendy Roberts, Sadie Thompson
O.B.
Gary Smith, Jamie Gourley
Road Guards
Paul and Aaron Thistle, Cathy Priest, Barbara Ganley, Darrell Davis, Troy Roberts, Ian (Fro Man), Burke Breneman, Becky Melton, Alex Bedley, Austin Brown, Marisa Sinz, Papa Joe Terry, John Sipos, and Fast Eddie Faulkner.
Course Marshalls
Steve Glinski, Tim Cash
Layout
Becky Melton, Doug Caldwell, Kim Murrell, Mike Hathaway, Burke Breneman
First Responders
Griff and Alan Shirley
Scoring
Nathan Glinski
Shop
Angela Brown, Crystal Kee
And a very special thanks to Sean Finley, Digital Throttle, and Eric Peronnard, EPCN, for their help with organization, promotion, and all around everything!
From all of us at the TTC:
L to R: Alex Bedley, Charlie Roberts, Ashley Jackson, Catherine Bedley, Sadie Thompson, Dan Brown
The weather was expectedly hot and sticky, and the brutally rocky terrain and dust made for a tricky course in and around the surrounding canyons and hills of the TTC. The format for the race was creative, with both a long loop and a shorter course being utilized to pre-select a field of amateur racers and narrow down the stacked field to 25, and then finally ten, top racers.
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After multiple rounds of qualifiers, the TKO main event took place on the unbelievably difficult short course, which was approximately five minutes in length.
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With ten laps of racing for the victory, the final was extremely hot, brutal and according to Brown “way tougher than an outdoor motocross national.”
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Overall, the first-ever TKO was a huge success, and the buzz has already started about next year’s event
We’re still working on sorting through our large batch of Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro photos. In the meantime, here are some photos by Larry Mayo and Amina Moreau that we think you’ll enjoy (click thumbnails for a larger view):
1. Larry Mayo sent us these three photos of TKO winner Mike Brown:
Sequatchie, TN (August 28, 2011) – Tennessee native Mike Brown outlasted a tough field of over fifty riders to win the KENDA Tennessee Knockout, fueled by Monster Energy. The first time “American Extreme Enduro” lived up to its billing as a tough race as Brown noted at the finish that the 40 minute long main event “Was tougher than anything I have ever done. At the halfway mark, I thought I would not be able to finish but I was leading so I kept pushing”.
Cody Webb, the factory Beta rider and 2010 AMA Trials champion that has become a regular podium finisher in EnduroCross events finished second and was within striking distance of Brown on the final lap before stalling his bike. Bobby Prochnau, the super tough Canadian KTM rider finished third.
Taddy Blazusiak, the pre-race favorite was eliminated from the competition during the first Knockout round when a minor crash knocked the fuel injection system loose and forced him to pull out of the event. Blazusiak was a good sport though and stuck around all afternoon to cheer on the other riders.
The four round format started with a single timed lap on a very extreme “short” course that took Cody Webb three minutes and twenty five seconds to complete. Brown was just two seconds behind and GEICO Honda’s Kyle Redmond was another four seconds back. This set the starting order for the 50 riders that would go into Knockout round one with the fastest riders going first and getting the advantage of less dust but also the disadvantage of having to pick the lines for the first time on the ten mile “long” loop.
Brown showed his strength on the long loop with a 39 minute and 7 second time that set the standard. Webb was very close with a 39:25 lap and Prochnau came in with 39:56. Kyle Redmond was fourth at 40:59 and Am-Pro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn at 41:41. Paul Whibley was next in line followed by Colton Haaker, Rory Mead, Michael Williams and Dustin Gibson rounded out the top ten riders.
A total of twenty five riders moved forward to Knockout round two, which was a head to head race with five riders each in five groups. The top two riders in each group would move on to the ten rider final. Brown and Whibley qualified from group one. Webb and Haaker qualified out of group two. Prochnau and Mead qualified out of group three. Williams and Redmond qualified out of group four and Ashburn and Palmer qualified out of group five. Husqvarna’s Jamie Lanza and Ryan Sandoval were among the non-qualifiers along with GEICO Honda’s Scott Watkins and Kawasaki rider, Gary Sutherlin.
Brown rocketed to the front of the pack at the start of the ten lap main event while Webb found himself on the ground in the first turn. Prochnau ran second followed by Whibley while Colton Haaker and Rory Mead battled for forth. Webb moved past four other riders on the first lap, which took around four minutes.
Michael Williamson, a relatively unknown Tennessee based rider that turned heads all day with his speed unfortunately crashed after not making it up an extremely difficult alternate line up the side of a cliff and dropped out on the first lap. Brown pulled a few seconds gap and rode conservative lines while several riders battled for second. Webb finally got to second at the halfway point and began to reel Brown in. By then, Haaker had taken a tumble with an aggressive line on a downhill to take him out of contention.
Whibley had a chain derail on his YZ250 2-stroke on lap five and lost a few positions. After nearly 40 minutes of racing, Webb moved to within striking distance of Brown on the final lap but stalled and tipped over to provide the gap that Brown needed to take the victory. Rory Mead had also closed in on Prochnau but slid out in a turn while trying to take the final podium spot. Whibley climbed back up to fifth after battling with an impressive Ashburn. Redmond and Palmer were the final two finishers in seventh and eighth.
PRO CLASS RESULTS: 2011 Kenda Tennessee Knockout, fueled by Monster Energy
1. Mike Brown, KTM, USA
2. Cody Webb, Beta, USA
3. Bobby Prochnau, KTM, Canada
4. Rory Mead, Honda, New Zealand
5. Paul Whibley, Yamaha, New Zealand
6. Jordan Ashburn, Yamaha, USA
7. Kyle Redmond, Honda, USA
8. Wally Palmer, Christini, USA
9. Colton Haaker, KTM, USA
10. Michael Williams, Kawasaki, USA
See this PDF of the final results, including all rounds of the Sunday knockout as well as the Saturday Amateur competition.
Sequatchie, TN (August 16, 2011) – The GEICO, Honda, JG Offroad team will have five riders taking part in the inaugural Kenda Tennessee Knockout, Fueled by Monster Energy. Kyle Redmond, Scott Watkins, Ryan Rodgers, Matt Crouch and Rory Mead will be flying the team JG Offroad colors. And all of these riders have the credentials to be contenders for podium positions.
Kyle Redmond has had top finishes at extreme events including Erzeberg, EncuroCross and Xtinction.
Scott Watkins has been a consistent front runner in the OMA series and GNCC events.
Ryan Rodgers is a former GNCC A Champion and Amateur EnduroCross champion.
Matt Crouch is a tough young rider from Texas that continues to move up the ranks.
Rory Mead is a New Zealander that surprised a lot of people by running up front at a few GNCC and finished 4th at the extremely tough and prestigious Snowshoe event.
GEICO, Honda, JG Offroad team owner, JT Bennett is enthusiastic about his team’s chances for this first time event that will take place at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. “We have a strong group of riders that all have a chance to run up front at this event and I am really excited to do well for KENDA since they are a new team sponsor and the primary backer of this event”. With five strong riders, the numbers are certainly on their side.
The 2011 Kenda Tennessee Knockout event will feature Expert racing on Sunday, August 28th. Amateur riders will get the opportunity to compete on much of the same course on Saturday, August 27th and the top finishers will have the opportunity to advance to the Sunday Expert finals with free entries.
Nathan Glinski rode large portions of the amateur course earlier this week on his Honda CRF230F, with a GoPro video camera attached to his helmet.
We’ve created two videos from his video footage: a 2-minute preview for spectators and an 11-minute preview for riders. Feel free to grab the embed code and post it wherever. You can also view the videos on the TTC Facebook page.
Sequatchie, TN (August 1, 2011) – Cody Webb, the 2010 AMA Trials Champion has confirmed that he will be racing his factory backed Beta at the upcoming Kenda Tennessee Knockout, fueled by Monster Energy. Webb spent some time in Europe this winter and competed in two rounds of the FIM World Indoor Enduro Championship and also competed in the “Hells Gate” Extreme Enduro. He logged impressive results at all of those events and especially at the extremely difficult Hells Gate event. So Webb is certainly a threat to take the first ever Tennessee Knockout.
“I have full commitment to showing up and riding the knockout. I am looking forward to it.” Webb stated. He has spent a lot of time competing in Trials events at the amazing Trials Training Center but this will be his first time “racing” at the facility. The multi round “Knockout” format will provide great spectating opportunities with three separate qualifiers narrowing the field down to ten riders that will compete in a head to head main event. Webb intends to be one of those ten riders that fights for the inaugural Tennessee Knockout victory.
The 2011 Kenda Tennessee Knockout event will feature Expert racing on Sunday, August 28th. Amateur riders will get the opportunity to compete on much of the same course on Saturday, August 27th and the top finishers will have the opportunity to advance to the Sunday Expert finals with free entries.
Mike Tosh and Gus Niewenhous at 
