Most teams in the Iron Dog snowmachine race are in Nome Wednesday, pausing at the race’s midway point for a mandatory rest-and-repair period before continuing to its Fairbanks finish line Thursday.
Team 23’s Brian Dick and Eric Quam led the way into Nome, arriving at 4:22 p.m. Tuesday afternoon -- and closely followed by the race’s 2012 champions, Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter in Team 17, who arrived only 23 seconds later. While McKenna and VanMeter were second into Nome, they are first in total trail time, leading the race over Dick and Quam by a razor-thin 37 seconds.
Aaron Bartel and Brad George in Team 25 were third into Nome at 4:33 p.m., with Team 11’s Scott Davis and Todd Palin arriving at 4:54 p.m. and Team 8’s Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson rounding out the top five with a 5:06 p.m. arrival time. The same teams are also third through fifth in trail time.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, race standings showed 23 of the race’s 27 surviving teams already in Nome, with four still en route.
With the race only halfway finished, 13 of its original 40 teams have scratched. Of the seven teams to scratch since Tuesday morning, two reported injuries: Team 4’s Chad Dow and Chris Kruse, as well as Team 33’s Joseph Brantley and Travis Ticket.
Previous scratches on the trail included Teams 5, 13, 14, 26 and 32. Team 6 scratched before the race began in Big Lake due to injuries.
Contact Chris Klint
