Neff captured victory in the 1,000 mile sled dog race by beating Allen Moore in a wild sprint to the finish. At one point, Moore had a 42-minute lead out of Braeburn.
Neff, traveling with his head lamp turned off for most of the final run, caught Moore with about 20 miles to go, but turning his head lamp back on alerted Moore to his presence, and the two ran neck and neck for the final miles. Moore said he double ski-poled his way in, but his efforts weren't enough.
"I ran about as good a race as I could run," said Moore. "His dogs were just a little bit faster. That's what made the difference."
"Even if I came in second, I didn't care," said Neff. "I was having fun out there. Allen is a buddy of mine. I have all the respect in the world for him. He won this race just as much as I did."
Neff's championship-winning time is 9 days, 16 hours, 5 minutes. The victory is a measure of redemption for a musher who previously held three top-three finishes in the Yukon Quest. In 2009, Neff came in second, four minutes behind Sebastian Schnuelle, in what was at the time the tightest finish in Yukon Quest history. Neff led most of last year's race as well before stalling on Eagle Summit. He ended up not finishing.
Four-time winner Lance Mackey crossed the finish line at 10:39 a.m., good for third place. Jake Berkowitz claimed fourth and rookie of the year honors at 12:31 p.m.
