On The Pegs September 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 9 | Page 91

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 9 - September 2019
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91
anuel Lettenbichler dominated this
year’s Kenda Tennessee Knockout from
the word Go, after posting the fastest
time in Sunday morning’s Hot Lap at this year’s
event.
The Red Bull KTM rider jumped into the lead
at the drop of the green flag in the 30-minute-
plus-one-lap main event and never looked back,
finishing the event with a 1:57.085-second advan-
tage over runner-up Mario Roman of Spain.
“After winning Romaniacs, it’s super awesome
to also win at this race,” said Lettenbichler. “It’s
just so intense and so different from what is nor-
mally on the schedule. I’m pretty pumped now to
have two wins in a row.”
Roman ran in third place for the first half of
the race before passing his factory Sherco team-
mate Wade Young to move into second. Young
settled in behind Roman and finished with a safe
cushion over Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton
Haaker, with RPM/Maxxis/KTM’s Trystan Hart
finishing fifth.
Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Ben Kelley came in
just about a full minute behind Hart for sixth.
After missing the event for a couple of years,
Am Pro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell returned to the
Trials Training Center to finish seventh. Rus-
sell turned in an impressive ride in Knockout #2
where he finished fourth.
Rounding out the top 10 were Tely Energy
Racing’s Grant Baylor and new KTM rider Ronnie
Commo.
Saturday also featured the Women’s Final,
which was won by Beta USA’s Rachel Gutish, with
KTM riders Shelby Turner and Nicole Bradford