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Mike Brown Wins 2012 KENDA
Tennessee Knockout
Cody Webb and Russell Bobbitt
fill out the podium
Sequatchie, TN (September 3, 2012) Mike Brown repeated as the winner of the second
annual KENDA Tennessee Knockout, presented by Monster Energy but it was far
from easy. During the third Knockout round, it appeared that Brown was going to
be eliminated from the event. He was hopelessly stuck in one of the special
test sections and had his helmet off and steam spewing from his KTM as he tried
to find a way up a wet and rocky creek. He needed to finish in the top three in
his group and more importantly, finish the loop in time to start the main
event. With the hillsides filled with screaming fans, Brown finally found a way
to get through the section and finished out the loop in a qualifying position
for the main event. He then took the lead away from Beta's Cody Webb on the
first lap of the 10 lap main event and withstood steady pressure for over
thirty minutes before edging away over the last few laps to take the win.
“I thought the race was over for me
when I was stuck up in that Creek and I was physically overheating Brown said
after the main event. ‚“But then I realized that most of the other riders were
also stuck in the same section so I kept pushing and pulling my bike up the
ledges that were slick from the rain that hit just before the start of that
third round. The main event was really tough but I managed to keep from making
any big mistakes.
The TKO format automatically qualifies
riders from all of the major off road racing series into the Sunday Knockout
rounds and there are open slots for non-qualified riders to qualify from
Saturday. Forty Four riders started the Sunday program that began with a single
hot lap around the “short course, which took Webb just over three minutes and
fifteen seconds to complete. Brown, Kyle Redmond and Colton Haaker were all
very close with 3:27, 3:28 and 3:29 runs. Husqvarnas Andrew Delong was fifth
with a 3:36.
The second round would have the riders
ride another lap against the clock but this time on the 13.5 mile “long
course. The riders started in 15 second intervals and Brown caught Webb and
the two exchanged the lead several times and crossed the finish line with Brown
just ahead physically, which meant he beat out Webb by 16 seconds with a time
of 44:28. Bobbitt, Fahringer, Delong, Jordan Ashburn, Whibley, Haaker, Brad
Bakken, Redmond, Max Gerston, Zach Love rounded out the top ten. Only the top
25 riders would move on and now be placed into groups of five for a head to
head race for another lap around the long course but with a few additional “challenge sections added.
An intense thunder shower hit just at
the end of the second round, which made it very difficult for some of the last
riders on the loop and would make round three much more challenging. For each
group of five riders, only the top three would move on to the 15 rider final.
This was the round that would prove extremely difficult as the rain combined with
the new challenge sections increased the time to just over fifty minutes for
Webb, who set the fastest time to win his group. Haaker, Whibley, Fahringer and
Delong each won their groups to take the front row spots for the main. Brown,
Ashburn, Bobbitt and Alex Bedley each finished second in their groups to earn
second row starts (no other riders finished from Delong's group). Hawaiis
Aaron McKnight, Zach Love and Dustin Gibson were the final three qualifiers,
which meant that only twelve riders had made it to the final round. Husqvarna's
Redmond dropped out in spectacular fashion after he cleared the most difficult
section with the crowd cheering; leaves that had collected in the bottom of the
skid plate caught fire and burned through a radiator hose to create a smoky
conclusion to his day.
Since Webb and Haaker seemed pretty
fresh after the first three rounds, they appeared to have the upper hand going
into the final and jumped out to the early lead. Brown started from row two and
quickly got into second when several riders got hung up in the EnduroCross
section. Webb got stuck attempting the most difficult line up a steep hill,
which allowed Brown to take the lead. Webb and Haaker were close behind and with
a ten lap main on the short course, it was expected to take about 40 minutes
and fitness was going to play a role in the extremely humid conditions. Haaker
stayed close to the leaders for the first three laps before he began to lose
touch but was still safely ahead of the intense battle between Bobbitt, Whibley
and Fahringer, who all exchanged positions several times. Delong pulled off due
to physical exhaustion at the midway point and joined Love, Gibson and Bedley
on the sidelines. Haaker pulled over on lap seven when the heat and humidity
had him seeing stars. Webb stayed very close to Brown for the first seven laps
but then he was the next to crack, which allowed Brown to open up a fifteen
second gap that he held to the finish. Bobbit finished just a few seconds ahead
of Whibley to take the final podium spot and Fahringer took fifth ahead of
Ashburn.
The race featured riders from several
different disciplines and in the end, Brown, the 2012 X Games Enduro X gold
medalist took the win over fellow EnduroCross regular and former AMA Trials
Champion Cody Webb. Russell Bobbit, the multi time National Enduro Champion took
third ahead of current GNCC points leader Paul Whibley. Nick Fahringer,
another Enduro regular, rounded out the top five.
2012, AMA Tennessee Knockout, fueled by
Monster Energy results
1. Mike Brown KTM
2. Cody Webb Beta
3. Russell Bobbitt KTM
4. Paul Whibley Yamaha
5. Nick Fahringer Husaberg
6. Jordan Ashburn Yamaha
7. Colton Haaker Kawasaki
8. Aaron McKnight KTM
9. Andrew Delong Husqvarna
10. Zach Love KTM
11. Dustin Gibson KTM
Alex Bedley Kawasaki
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