On The Pegs December 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 12 | Page 30

On The Pegs
TENNESSEE KNOCKOUT
ANNOUNCED
www.tennesseeknockoutenduro.com
The Kenda Tennessee Knockout has become one of the premier off-road
motorcycle races in the United States and many top international riders have
competed in recent years. The ninth annual TKO will take place at the Trials
Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee on August 16-18, 2019.
FMF KTM’s Cody Webb has won the TKO for six straight years despite serious
challenges from the top US and International riders. Germany’s Manuel Letten-
bichler, South Africa’s Wade Young, the UK’s Graham Jarvis and Spain’s Mario
Roman have all joined Webb on the podium in recent years but have not been
able to knock Webb off the top step. Top North American riders including Kyle
Redmond, Taylor Robert, Max Gerston, Jordan Ashburn and Cory Graffunder
have also tried to unseat Webb and many of these riders will be back again in
2019.
The TKO will feature both Saturday (Amateur) and Sunday (Expert) racing.
The Sunday format will again feature a multi-round Knockout format that is
challenging for the riders and very spectator friendly. The expert riders will be
competing for a $10,000 purse.
The Saturday program will include two rounds of racing and will serve as the
Extreme Enduro AMA Grand Championship for Amateur riders. Amateur riders
can earn spots directly into round two via several AMA regional championship
events. Riders that do not qualify via one of the AMA regional events can sign
up for one of 350 open spots that will compete in a morning qualifying race
that can earn a spot in the championship final on Saturday. The top 30 finish-
ers from Saturday will earn a spot in Sunday’s expert program.
New for 2019, the Amateur riders will be given the opportunity to compete
in a Friday afternoon “hot-lap” qualifying session to earn their starting posi-
tions. The qualifying session will be for both the pre-qualified riders (to set
their starting position for race two) and those that enter the TKO amateur class
to determine their starting positions for Saturday race one.
Amateur registration opens at 6:00 pm CST on Thursday, December 6, 2018.
There are just 350 spots available and entries sold out in just a couple of hours
in the past so please plan to get your entry in as soon as it opens. The registra-
tion link will be available here on the TKO website.