AMA Grand Championship #1 Plates will be up for grabs at the 2025 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO). In addition to serving as the tenth and final round of the AMA US Hard Enduro Premier Championship, TKO will again serve as the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road. Sixteen of the nineteen racing classes are eligible for AMA Grand Championship awards.
TKO will again serve as the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road. Sixteen of the nineteen racing classes are eligible for AMA Grand Championship awards. Photography Future7Media.
Pro
Pro Women
A Amateur
A Vet 30+
A Senior 40+
A Super Senior 50+
4 Stroke Sportsman
Masters 60+
B Amateur
B Vet 30+
B Senior 40+
B Super Senior 50+
C Amateur * Not a Grand Championship class
C Vet 30+ * Not a Grand Championship class
C Senior 40+ * Not a Grand Championship class
Youth 12-15
Women Amateur
eMoto Expert
eMoto Amateur
The 2025 TKO will take place from Friday, August 8 to Sunday, August 10, 2025, here at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee.
The 2025 TKO will again be limited to 500 participants, which has sold out in the past. Enter before July 1st for the Early Bird entry fee. Riders can enter here.
The world’s top Hard Enduro racers have competed in the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout in the past and that is expected to continue in 2025. Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler won the 2024 TKO over Canada’s Trystan Hart and South Africa’s Wade Young. The TKO management team is working on confirming more of the top international riders’ participation for 2025.
Mani Lettenbichler (center) celebrates his 2024 TKO win with Trystan Hart (left) and Wade Young. Photography Future7Media
The multi-round racing format attracts up to 500 amateur entries and the best pro riders. The three days of racing will start on Friday with the amateur Hot Laps to set the Saturday starting positions. Saturday will include two rounds of amateur racing that will allow up to thirty riders to earn the opportunity to race in the Sunday pro competition. The pro riders will kick off their weekend with a Hot Lap on Saturday afternoon. Sunday will include three rounds of pro class racing that concludes with a multi-lap main event that is spectacular for the fans.
TKO will again include the ECR eMoto championship races with both amateur and expert classes for electric motorcycles and electric motorcycle demo rides sponsored by Surron to add to the fun weekend for racers and spectators.
Racer entries are open for the 2025 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO). The 2025 TKO will take place from Friday, August 8 to Sunday, August 10, 2025, at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. The fifteenth annual TKO will again be part of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship, serving as tenth and final round of the premier championship and round five of the East Hard Enduro Championship.
Entries are now open for the 2025 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. Riders are encouraged to enter early to lock in one of the 500 spots that have sold out in the past. Photography Christian Pondella Red Bull Content Pool.
The world’s top Hard Enduro racers have competed in the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout in the past and that is expected to continue in 2025. Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler won the 2024 TKO over Canada’s Trystan Hart and South Africa’s Wade Young. The TKO management team is working on confirming several of the top international rider’s participation for 2025.
Mani Lettenbichler (center) celebrates his 2024 TKO win with Trystan Hart (left) and Wade Young. Photography Future7Media.
The 2025 TKO will again be limited to 500 participants, which has sold out in the past. Riders can enter here.
The multi-round racing format that attracts up to 500 amateur entries and the best pro riders will start on Friday with the amateur Hot Laps to set the Saturday starting positions. Saturday will include two rounds of amateur racing that will allow up to thirty riders to earn the opportunity to race in the Sunday pro competition. The pro riders will kick off their weekend with a Hot Lap on Saturday afternoon. Sunday will include three rounds of pro class racing that concludes with a multi-lap main event that is spectacular for the fans.
TKO will again include the ECR eMoto championship races for electric motorcycles (now with both eMoto Expert and eMoto Amateur classes) and the electric motorcycle demo rides sponsored by Surron to add to the fun weekend for racers and spectators.
The 2025 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) is confirmed for Friday, August 8 to Sunday, August 10, 2025, at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. This will be the fifteenth annual TKO event, and it will again be part of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship premier series.
The multi-round racing format that attracts over 500 amateur entries and the best pro riders will start on Friday with the amateur Hot Laps to set the Saturday starting positions. Saturday will include two rounds of amateur racing that will allow up to thirty riders to earn the opportunity to race in the Sunday pro competition. The pro riders will kick off their weekend with a Hot Lap on Saturday afternoon. Sunday will include three rounds of pro class racing that concludes with a multi-lap main event that is spectacular for the fans.
Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler came out on top of a great battle with Canada’s Trystan Hart to take the win at the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. Like the past years, most of the worlds top Hard Enduro racers are expected to be back to take on the TKO in 2025. Photography Christian Pondella Red Bull Content Pool.
Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler won the 2024 TKO over Canada’s Trystan Hart and South Africa’s Wade Young. KTM’s Lettenbichler came out on top of an epic battle with Hart to take the win, his second TKO win to go along with his 2019 victory. The 2025 TKO is again expected to attract the top North American and International Hard Enduro racers.
Mani Lettenbichler (center) celebrates his 2024 TKO win with Trystan Hart (left) and Wade Young. Photography Future7Media
TKO will again include the ECR eMoto championship races for electric motorcycles and electric motorcycle demo rides sponsored by Surron to add to the fun weekend for racers and spectators.
Entries will open early in 2025 and more details for the event will also be announced in the coming months.
The top three riders at the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) earn some of the most unique trophies in motorsports. Preston Farabow, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based artist, constructs the trophies on-site during the TKO weekend.
Farabow scavenges the racecourse for rocks with evidence of the race. Rocks with tire marks or scrapes from footpegs, frames, and skidplates get used in the hand-made trophies that he designs each year. See the video here:
Mani Lettenbichler, Trystan Hart, and Wade Young were the lucky podium finishers that could barely lift the trophies overhead for the podium celebration following three rounds of tough racing at the 2024 TKO.
Farabow has made the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout pro rider trophies for the past five years, and he applies the proceeds to his nonprofit organization that teaches welding and metalwork skills to needy teens and adults. The organization is called inSPYRE – the institute of fire.
You can contact Preston at Preston@PrestonFarabow.com or learn more about his design studio at PrestonFarabow.com.
The 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) included four days of Hard Enduro racing action. The event served as round five of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and the seventh and final round of the AMA US Hard Enduro Championship.
The fourteenth annual TKO started on Thursday, August 22 for the Red Bull TKO Prologue in downtown Nashville where Sherco’s Cody Webb beat Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker in a three-race head-to-head battle on the man-made straight rhythm course on Broadway Street.
On Friday, nearly 500 amateur riders competed in a qualifying Hot Lap to determine starting positions for Saturday.
Saturday had two amateur racing rounds with the second determining the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Enduro. Tennessee’s Chase Landers was the overall winner of the Saturday race two and he was among the top 31 amateur riders that earned the opportunity to compete with the top Hard Enduro riders from around the world on Sunday. Indiana’s Rachael Gutish won the women’s pro race that took place during Saturday race two.
The pro riders competed in a Saturday afternoon Hot-Lap to set their starting positions for the first Knockout race on Sunday.
Sunday included three rounds of racing for the top 66 riders that qualified for the final day of racing plus the top twenty Electric Cycle Rider eMoto (electric motorcycle) racers from a Saturday qualifying race. The first round of racing was an elimination race for the pro riders and the AMA Grand Championship race for the eMoto racers.
Race two was another Knockout round and only the top twenty riders moved into the final race. Red Bull KTM’s Manuel Lettenbichler won the final race after an epic battle with FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart. Wade Young finished third on a GasGas, Teodor Kabakchiev finished fourth on a Sherco and Ashton Brightmore rounded out the top five. It was a truly international event with seven countries represented in the top ten of the pro class.
2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results
1. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
2. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
3. Wade Young, GasGas, South Africa
4. Teodor Kabakchiev, Sherco, Bulgaria
5. Ashton Brightmore, Husqvarna, Great Britain
6. Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
7. Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
8. Mario Roman, Sherco, Spain
9. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
10. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing backed Mani Lettenbichler came out on top of a race-long battle with FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart to win the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee. This was the fourteenth annual TKO and it was Lettenbichler’s second win at the event and his first since 2019.
The victory allowed the German to increase his lead in the FIM Hard Enduro championship, which has two remaining rounds for 2024. Hart put up a great fight and led multiple times but a mistake on the penultimate lap allowed Lettenbichler to take the lead back. South Africa’s Wade Young rounded out the podium riding a GasGas.
Mani Lettenbichler (center) celebrates his 2024 TKO win with Trystan Hart (left) and Wade Young. Photography Future7Media.
The long weekend of racing kicked off in downtown Nashville on Thursday night where American Cody Webb won the prologue straight rhythm event that took over Broadway Street with a man-made enduro course. Fellow American’s Colton Haaker and Ryder LeBlond rounded out the podium despite a strong list of riders representing seven different countries.
Cody Webb topped longtime rival Colton Haaker to win the Nashville TKO Prologue in downtown Nashville on Thursday night.
The pro racing kicked off on Saturday afternoon with a Hot-Lap on a nearly two-mile “short course” where Lettenbichler set the fastest time of six minutes and five seconds. Young was second fastest with a time of six minutes and fourteen seconds. Canada’s Hart was third fastest with a six minute and fifteen second lap. The UK’s Ashton Brightmore was fourth in six minutes and nineteen seconds and Spain’s Mario Roman rounded out the top five with a time of six minutes and twenty-two seconds. A total of sixty-six riders completed the Hot-Lap to move on to the three rounds of racing on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, the riders took on an eleven mile “long course” with the first knockout round. Only the top thirty riders moved on to the second knockout round. Lettenbichler again topped the results sheet with a time of fifty-four minutes and three seconds. Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev put in a strong ride that was just four hundredth of a second slower on his Sherco. Hart was again third, fifteen seconds back. Young and fellow South African Matthew Green rounded out the top five times. Jordan Ashburn, LeBlond, Will Riordan, David Cyprian and Colton Haaker finished sixth through tenth respectively.
There was a last-chance qualification race on a straight rhythm course among the four riders that just missed the top thirty and pro Trials competitor Josh Roper took that spot to be the last rider to make it to the second round.
The second-round changes format to place the thirty-one riders into five groups that race head-to-head. Four of those groups include six riders while the fifth group has seven riders including the LCQ winner. The riders take on the long loop with another mile of extremely difficult sections added. The top four finishers from each group earn spots in the twenty-rider main event with the winners of each group earning front row starting positions.
Lettenbichler dominated group one to take the win in just under one hour, which was over five minutes ahead of Mitch Brightmore. Ashburn and James Flynn earned the other two qualifying spots from this group.
Kabakchiev topped the second group ahead of LeBlond, Webb and Graham Jarvis, who was making a rare appearance at a race in the US. Kabakchiev and LeBlond battled throughout the entire
Hart won the third group of riders in a time of one hour and one minute. Australia’s Will Riordan finished second and Ashton Brightmore was third. Cooper Abbott took the fourth and final main event qualifying spot from this group.
Young won group four with Mario Roman just over one minute behind. Spain’s David Cyprian finished third and Hawaii’ Kawelo Huddy punched the final ticket to the main from group four.
Haaker won the fifth group to earn a front row starting spot for the main event alongside the other group winners. Spain’s Alfredo Gomez finished second, well clear of Green and Quinn Wentzel.
The twenty riders that qualified for the main event moved back to the short-course for a 35-minute plus one lap race that ended up taking forty-seven minutes and fifty-three seconds for the winner to complete. Hart took the early lead followed closely by Lettenbichler and Kabakchiev. Young was just about five second back in fourth position The order remained the same until Lettenbichler took over the lead on the third of seven laps. Kabakchiev started to drop back from the leading duo, which allowed Young to close in. On the fourth lap, Hart took the lead back and he held it until the penultimate lap when Lettenbichler capitalized on a mistake by the Canadian. Both riders pushed hard on the final lap and the gap between them held at five seconds, which proved to be enough for Lettenbichler to hold on for the win.
Young found his way past Kabakchiev take over third position on the fifth lap and he finished a little less than a minute and a half behind second and nearly a minute ahead of fourth placed Kabakchiev.
Eighteen-year-old Ashton, the younger of the two Brightmore brothers rounded out the top five on his Husqvarna. Colton Haaker came into the finish area in sixth place but mistakenly slowed down and launched his bike for fun just before the finish line, which handed the position to Rieju-backed Gomez, who was close behind. Haaker rolled across the line in seventh. Roman finished eight on his Sherco. LeBlond recovered from a crash on the first lap to finish ninth on a Husqvarna and Webb rounded out the top ten.
The second place finish by Trystan Hart earned him his fourth AMA US Hard Enduro Premier championship ahead of Cody Webb.
“We had a really good ride and Trystan was riding unbelievably good”, Lettenbichler said. “I didn’t do too good this week and got a little sick and was struggling to get the speed up for the intensity and I knew that this was super intense so it was not an easy one. I had a really good line at the hill-climb, but I was dead at the end, so I am definitely stoked to take the win here and get another TKO win.”
Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler came out on top of a great battle with Canada’s Trystan Hart to take the win at the 2024 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout. It was the KTM riders second TKO win and first since 2019. Photography Future7Media.
Hart won the AMA US Hard Enduro championship over Webb with his second-place finish but was disappointed to not take his fourth TKO win. “The race win was the goal today and the championship was a side thing because I was counting on that but the race win was my real goal but Mani is such a good rider that you have to be on point to beat him and I was a little off all day,” Hart said. “I was just a little off all day but in the main I took the holeshot and passed Mani a couple of times and we both made mistakes and I made the last one.”
Trystan Hart pushed hard to take the win at the TKO but a mistake on the penultimate lap cost him a chance at taking his fourth TKO win. He still clinched his fourth AMA US Hard Enduro championship. Photography Future7Media.
“The race was good, super intense as always,” Young said. “I kind of just paced myself and got into my own rhythm, controlled my heart rate. I gained momentum and super stoked to get on the podium for the second time here at the TKO.”
South Africa’s Wade Young put in a solid ride to round out the podium on his GasGas. He had to make a pass on Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev to take the position. Photography Future7Media.Colton Haaker was the top American finisher at the 2024 TKO in seventh. An early celebration cost him a spot just before the finish line.
2024 Red Bull Tennessee, Knockout Main Event Results
1. Manuel Lettenbichler, KTM, Germany
2. Trystan Hart, KTM, Canada
3. Wade Young, GasGas, South Africa
4. Teodor Kabakchiev, Sherco, Bulgaria
5. Ashton Brightmore, Husqvarna, Great Britain
6. Alfredo Gomez, Rieju, Spain
7. Colton Haaker, Husqvarna, USA
8. Mario Roman, Sherco, Spain
9. Ryder LeBlond, Husqvarna, USA
10. Cody Webb, Sherco, USA
11. Will Riordan, GasGas, Australia
12. Mitch Brightmore, Husqvarna, Great Britain
13. Jordan Ashburn, GasGas, USA
14. Graham Jarvis, Husqvarna, Great Britain
15. Matthew Green, KTM, South Africa
16. Francesc Moret Clota, Sherco, Spain
17. David Cyprian, KTM, Spain
18. Cooper Abbott, Sherco, USA
19. Quinn Wentzel, Rieju, USA
20. Kawelo Huddy, KTM, USA
The Women’s pro class competed along with the top amateurs on the more difficult Saturday race two and Rachael Gutish took the win over fellow Sherco rider Louise Forsley. Nikki Russell rounded out the podium on a Rieju. All three women chose to take on the Sunday pro course and Gutish and Forsley both managed to complete a lap in the time limit.
In addition to the pro racing, the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout crowned amateur champions in several classes. Saturday included two rounds of amateur racing with race two serving as the AMA Gand championship-deciding race. During that second race, Tennessee’s Chase Landers earned the number one spot with a winning time of fifty-four minutes and forty-six seconds on a KTM. Coran Calvert finished second on a Sherco over seven minutes back and Tucker Miller rounded out the top three riding a KTM. The top thirty riders also earned the opportunity to compete with the forty-six pre-qualified pro riders, which kicked off their racing on Saturday afternoon followed by three rounds of racing on Sunday. Landers managed to finish thirty-third in the first round, just missing a top 30 spot to move to round two.
Other Saturday class winners among nearly 500 participants included Boogie Rivera in Amateur B, Jose Julian Hernandez Rios in Amateur C, Brandon Wakefield in A Vet 30+, Drew Kirby in A Senior 40+, Stephen Thaxton in A Master 50+, Karol Nasuta in B 40+, Jordan Ouzts in 4-Stroke Sportsman, Carly Paet in Women’s Amateur and Gage Hill in Youth Lites 12-15.
The ECR eMoto class was recognized for an AMA Grand Championship and the riders completed three rounds of racing over three days. Thirty-two electric motorcycle racers took on the course and the top twenty earned a spot in the championship deciding Sunday final, which was on course with the pro riders. Canada’s Spenser Wilton took the ECR eMoto AMA Grand Championship number one plate for the second time and was riding a Stark. Australian Conor Hennessy finished less than a minute behind riding a hybrid KTM chassis with custom an electric motor. Canada’s Joshua Long rounded out the podium riding an Arctic Leopard. Noah Kepple finished fourth on an Electric Motion and Maxwell Beaupre rounded out the top five riding a Surron. Five different manufacturers had bikes in the top five showing growing interest in the class. Several hundred people took the opportunity to test ride bikes in the Surron eMoto demo ride area throughout the weekend.
Learn more about the Red Bull Tennessee Knockout event here.
Carson Brown (@carsonbrown_910), a two-time winner of the 125 class at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm motocross events, will take on the 2024 Red Bull TKO Hard Enduro. The Washington native is known for epic bike builds and he selected a Kawasaki KDX200 for this one.
Former Red Bull Straight Rhythm Motocross winner Carson Brown will take on the 2024 Red Bull TKO Enduro Prologue in Nashville on a Kawasaki KDX 200. Check out his bike build and come watch him race in Nashville on Thursday, August 22nd for the prologue or the full TKO in Sequatchie, Tennessee on August 24-25.
He bought the bike on Facebook Marketplace and added some logical parts that didn’t come on the standard KDX including an electric start and cooling fan. You can check out his bike build video here: KDX200 Tennessee Knockout Build Breakdown
Brown is a wild card entry for the Thursday night Nashville Red Bull Straight Rhythm prologue and will also take on the full TKO in the pro class on Saturday, August 24-25 in Sequatchie, Tennessee.
The Red Bull Tennessee Knockout prologue in Nashville will be 100% free and open to the public and for all ages. Spectators will be able to have trackside and rooftop access on select rooftops. Please reach out directly to those venues before arriving.
Also:
Check out the 2024 Red Bull TKO Prologue preview video here