"You can't make a dog mush 1,000 miles," he said. "They have to want it more than you."

Seavey, the Willow musher who celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday, was on the trail Sunday afternoon as a daylong blast of sunshine lured thousands of fans out to watch the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Willow Lake. Standing two, three or four deep on both sides of the starting chute, cheers continued for a nearly a half-mile past the start line.

Two-time runner-up DeeDee Jonrowe, also of Willow, led the parade of mushers and dogs at 2 p.m. Wearing her signature hot pink parka trimmed with wolverine and wolf fur, Jonrowe thanked handlers and friends as her start approached, before sprinting back to her sled at the last second.

The biggest crowds formed around four-time defending champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, the 16th musher to leave. Mackey is coming off the second-fastest finish in Iditarod history, 8 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes. With one more championship, he'll extend his record consecutive-wins streak and tie Rick Swenson as the winningest musher in race history.

Mackey sat out this year's Quest, so his dogs should be fresh.

But Seavey's team continues to amaze the young, but experienced, musher.

Of the 14 dogs that made the victorious trip to Fairbanks in last month's Quest, a dozen were back in harness Sunday.

Seavey's father, 2004 Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey, said so many repeat racers is a sign of an impressive team.

When Dallas Seavey entered his first Quest this year, he had no intentions of becoming the youngest winner in race history. He only wanted to offer his dogs a test before the Iditarod. He packed extra food and made extra rest stops between checkpoints, a conservative strategy that turned out to be perfect.

"It's still a shock we won the Quest," he said. "It hasn't sunk in yet."

To win, Seavey and his dogs battled weather so extreme nearly half the racers scratched, including defending champion Hans Gatt, last year's Iditarod runner-up.

Seavey faced the same harsh winds and bitter cold, but by resting early, his team remained fresh and better able to power through adversity.

"We were all hit with the same bad weather," Seavey said. "The bad conditions gave my team a chance to excel. The worse the weather, the better my team seems to do."

Seavey said the win was a confidence booster, mostly because it proved to him that the more-experienced mushers can be beaten.

Mitch Seavey said he couldn't be more proud of what Dallas accomplished in the Quest, but knows the Iditarod will be the tougher test. He said the Quest sometimes presents tougher racing conditions, but the size and quality of the Iditarod field sets it apart.

"Neither is easy, but there's far more depth in the Iditarod" said Mitch Seavey. "He's gonna have to beat everyone, including me."

The 62 mushers who left Willow on Sunday more than doubled the number of participants in the Quest, a field that didn't include four-time defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey, five-time champion Rick Swenson or four-time champion Martin Buser.

"They are almost gods of the sport," said Dallas Seavey.

As a result, Seavey is setting a realistic goal for this year's race to Nome.

"I want to be in the top five," he said.

In 2005, an 18-year-old Seavey became the youngest musher to race the Iditarod. He has finished four times, turning in two top-10 finishes in the last two years. He finished sixth in 2009 and, despite finishing 28 hours faster in 2010, was eighth.

Seavey said finishing in worse position with a faster time taught him a valuable lesson. Each race is unique and unpredictable, and the key to success is finding a way to get the job done on the trail.

As he did for the Quest, Seavey has a strategy and schedule for the Iditarod, but he's ready to make adjustments.

The first couple of days will be about getting his dogs into a rhythm and making sure everything is in order.

"There's no more screwing around," he said. "I look forward to getting the first couple of days out of the way and get to some real mushing."

Seavey's top dogs include Tater, who ran in lead on Sunday; Diesel and Chung, golden harness award winners in the Quest, and Guiness, the lead dog in the Quest who tends to be a little shy around crowds.

Seavey, who has been involved in sled-dog racing since he was 5 years old, said he doesn't get worked up or nervous at race starts anymore.

"It's just more mushing, and I've done that my whole life," he said.

And Seavey has seen many trails worst than this year's Iditarod route, which is reported to have good snow cover throughout.

The top 30 finishers will share a purse of $528,000. The winner will get $50,400 and a new truck. The payout for the others is reduced somewhat this year, ranging from $46,300 to $1,500.

Dallas Seavey isn't the only family member eyeing some new wheels and spending money.

"As good as Lance Mackey is and as successful as he is, he is not the only one who is a champion and can win this year," Mitch Seavey said. "I have a dog team that I think can do anything I ask them to do."

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Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.