taking a solid first and second
from Ruml and Kerr.
As the evening progressed,
both the Becker/Nicol and Chu-
gunov/Curzytec teams waded
through their opponents, scor-
ing mostly 1-2 positions with the
one exception being the third
round when Becker and Nicol
outgated the Polish pair to take a
7-2 maximum score, as Curzytek
fell but re-mounted. In the same
round, Max Ruml and his partner
Chris Kerr turned the tables on
his brother Dillon and Fox, taking
the maximum seven points for a
1-2 finish.
Over the evening, some
younger riders in the Junior
classes started to look like future
champions. One who impressed
was Kage Tadman who it ap-
pears has no fear whatsoever
and sees only the finish lane,
ignoring anyone in front of him
until the end. Kage is a diminu-
tive Junior who excels in just
about all forms of motorcycle
racing. Tadman took a small
slide out in race 32, but was up
at the (Below_re-start and raring
to go, taking a second place in
the 250cc-class final.
The semi-finals were almost
anti-climactic, with Becker and
Nicol taking a win over Fox and
Dillon Ruml, with Chugunov and
Curzytek defeating Kerr and Max
Ruml to set up the final champi-
onship pairing.
After a bit of track-prep, the
final was a blistering race with
Becker and Nicol lining up in the
second and fourth slots at the
start. Both hit stunning gates
to leap into the lead. Chugunov
and Curyztek were not lagging,
however, and were in the fight
to the end, but at the flag it was
Becker and Nicol with a seven-
point maximum score to take the
2022 U.S. Pairs Championship
for a three-peat.
Richard T. Haight
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 23, 2022 P39
(Right) Four-time World
Champion Greg Hancock
(center) was in attendance
mentoring young Polish racers
Michael Curzytek (left) and
Gleb Chugunov (right). (Below)
Nichol and Becker celebrate
the U.S. Pairs Championship
for the third year in a row.
