Tag Archives: Cody Webb

Webb conquers 2013 Kenda Tennessee Knockout; Robert and Graffunder round out the podium on a tough course

Here’s the press release from Sean Finley on the results from yesterday’s TKO.

2013 TKO Webb - Shan Moore photo 2013 TKO Podium - Shan Moore Photo 2013 TKO

Sequatchie, TN (August 18, 2013) – The third time was the charm for Cody Webb to conquer the KENDA Tennessee Knockout. After finishing second to Mike Brown the previous two years, Webb dominated the multi round event to take the largest portion of the $10,000 purse. Monster Kawasaki’s Taylor Robert won a multi rider battle for second during his first visit to the TKO while Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder finished a close third.
 
Mother Nature combined with the tough trails at the Trials Training Center helped the event live up to its billing as an American Extreme Enduro. Heavy rain the night before forced a few course changes but there were still several hill climbs and creek sections that proved to be challenging for even the most talented riders.
 
The day started with a hot lap around a mile long “short course”. Cody Webb set the standard with a time of 2:57 and was followed by Brown (3:12), Kyle Redmond (3:13), Graffunder (3:14) and Nick Fahringer (3:21).
 
Next up was the first Knock Out round on the 13 mile “long course”. The 39 riders were sent out in 30 second intervals and the top 25 times would earn a spot in the next round. Webb again set the pace with a time of 54:02 followed by Fahringer (58:40), Brown (58:58), Redmond (1:00:41) and Graffunder (1:03:22). The extremely technical loop proved to be difficult and only and only 22 riders finished in time to start the next Knockout round.
 
TKO round two placed the riders into five groups of 4-5 riders and only the top three in each group would earn a spot in the 15 rider main event. Webb won group one over Fabien Planet, the multi-time French Enduro Champion and Enduro World Championship competitor. Max Gerston, the young Arizona rider won an intense battle with Russell Bobbitt to take the final spot from group one. Fahringer won group two over Jordan Ashburn and Grant Baylor. In group three, Wally Palmer used his two-wheel drive Christini to beat Brown and Quinn Wentzel, a top Trials rider. Robert won group four over Redmond and Loic Leonard, the French Canadian that had earned a spot from the Saturday qualifiers. Graffunder won group five over Zach Love and Bryan Roper.
 
Fahringer took the lead on the start of the 8 lap main event and looked determined as he attacked the slippery rock sections. But the aggression proved a little too much as he lost control and hit a tree, which allowed Webb to take the lead. Once in the lead, Webb slowly pulled away from a multi rider battle for second. The lead was a minute and 25 seconds at the halfway point and grew to nearly three minutes at the finish. “I guess I like this Extreme stuff, even though you wonder why when you are out there struggling.” Webb said. “I learned a lot from getting second the past two years so it was great to get the win”.
 
Fahringer held second at the end of the first lap but further problems would eventually take him out of contention and he finished two laps down in eighth. Brown took over second but had Redmond on his tail and would take over the spot just before the halfway point but then broke his clutch lever with a tip over and allowed Brown back by. But then Robert, the current WORCS champion and Graffunder were in close formation and both pushed past. On lap seven of eight, Brown pulled out of the event after losing another position to Gerston. “I was just too tired and struggling all day” Brown said. “I have been in Mexico doing Baja testing and it took a lot out of me.”
 
Robert and Graffunder continued to battle for second all the way to the finish and would be the only two riders to remain on the lead lap with Webb. “I got better and gained confidence as the day went on” Robert said”. We have a lot of rocks in Arizona but they are like sand paper and these rocks have slime on them so I am happy I was able to do well”. Gerston was an impressive fourth place ahead of Planet who said “This was one of the toughest races I have ever done, especially the first long test”.
 
Redmond, Brown, Fahringer, Ashburn and Baylor rounded out the top ten.
 
2013 KENDA Tennessee Knockout Main Event Results:

  1. Cody Webb – Beta
  2. Taylor Robert – Kawasaki
  3. Cory Graffunder – Husqvarna
  4. Max Gerston – Beta
  5. Fabien Planet – Sherco
  6. Kyle Redmond – KTM
  7. Mike Brown -  KTM
  8. Nick Fahringer – Husaberg
  9. Jordan Ashburn – Yamaha
  10. Grant Baylor – KTM
  11. Bryan Roper – KTM
  12. Quinn Wentzel – KTM
  13. Loic Leonard – KTM
  14. Wally Palmer – Christini
  15. Zach Love – KTM

Mike Brown wins inaugural Kenda Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro; Tennessee native outlasts a tough field of riders

We got this press release today from Sean Finley at Digital Throttle who’s been working with us on the Kenda Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro. Photos by Drew Ruiz.

TKO 2011, Podium, 1st - Mike Brown, 2nd Cody Webb, 3rd - Bobby Prochnau, photo by Drew RuizSequatchie, 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.

TKO 2011, Mike Brown, photo by Drew RuizThe 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.

TKO 2011, Cody Webb, photo by Drew RuizBrown 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.

TKO 2011, Bobby Prochnau, photo by Drew RuizA 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.

2011-Kenda-Tennessee-Knockout-Extreme-Enduro-final-results

Cody Webb confirms his entry in the Kenda Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro

We got this press release today from Sean Finley at Digital Throttle who’s been working with us on the Kenda Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro:

Cody WebbSequatchie, 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.

Cody Webb poster“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.

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