Eric Peronnard

Final plans are coming together for the eleventh annual Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO). The Trials Training Center, in Sequatchie, Tennessee will host the event on August 13-15, 2021. The TKO serves as the AMA Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road and the event is still planned to be part of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship (HEWC) despite the very challenging global travel restrictions. So, the top riders from around the world will face off against the best North American hard enduro riders for a $10,000 purse

The top riders are automatically qualified into the Sunday pro racing and 400 amateur riders have entered to race on Saturday to compete for the AMA Amateur Grand Championship for Extreme Off-Road. Saturday is a two-round format with some riders qualifying directly into the amateur championship-deciding race two via nine AMA regional events. The top thirty finishers from Saturday earn the opportunity to move on to the Sunday racing to compete with the pre-qualified riders.

Saturday also includes both amateur and pro women’s classes. The amateur women will compete in Saturday race one and the pro-women will compete in Saturday race two and with the winner earning the 2021 AMA Grand Championship #1 plate.

New for 2021, Saturday afternoon will include a Prologue Straight Rhythm event for the pro men and pro-women riders. There will be an additional purse payout for both the men and women. More details to come on this event.

“We have been working hard to make the 2021 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout special,” said Eric Peronnard, co-producer of the Tennessee Knockout. “We have some completely new sections that we will be using for the main event that will challenge the riders and be more exciting for the spectators. We will also add a Prologue Straight Rhythm to the Saturday afternoon schedule for the pro men and pro-women, and that will be an exciting way to cap the Saturday racing.”

The 2021 TKO will again be featured on Red Bull TV with more details to be announced.

Trystan Hart (center) won the 2020 AMA Tennessee Knockout over Cody Webb (left) and Benjamin Herrera. Photo: Sam Carbine / Red Bull Content Pool

Trystan Hart earned his first TKO win in 2020 and has moved to the FMF KTM Factory team for 2021. Photo: Shan Moore

Cody Webb has won the TKO six times but has not won since 2018, so he is hungry for a seventh win. Photo: Sam Carbine / Red Bull Content Pool

Many of the top international riders have competed in the Tennessee Knockout in the past. Germany’s Mani Lettenbichler won the 2019 TKO over Spain’s Mario Roman and South Africa’s Wade Young. But 2021 will mark the first time that most of the top international riders will all be competing at the TKO at the same time.

2021 will include both amateur and pro-women classes for the first time. The amateur women will race in Saturday race one while the pro-women will compete in Saturday race two for the AMA Grand Championship Off-Road #1 plate. Rachel Gutish (center) topped Shelby Turner (left) and Louise Forsley in 2020. Photo: Shan Moore

The inaugural Kenda Tire Tennessee Knockout Enduro will take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 27-28, 2011 here at the Trials Training Center.

Today’s press release (PDF) will give you the basic info but for all the details, see the special page we’ve created here on the TTC web site for the event.

We’ll continue to post information about the enduro here on the TTC blog throughout the spring and summer. Subscribe to the TTC blog RSS feed or to the subscribe to the weekly TTC e-newsletter. Of course, you also can keep tabs by following us on Twitter and Facebook where we’ll also post updates.

The event is the brainchild of TTC owner Dan Brown, with assistance from Eric Peronnard, the founder of EnduroCross.