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NOME - Rick Mackey stood at the finish line of the 28th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race as Tuesday night spilled into Wednesday morning. He held his son Roland, 3, in his arms and laughed as the boy said, "Daddy, did we win the truck?" Mackey, 46, of Nenana, placed sixth, half a day behind record-breaking winner Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont., the musher who did win a Dodge truck as part of his first-place bounty. "No, Mr. Swingley gets the truck," Mackey said. "We've got trucks at home." Which was not the answer Roland was after. He burst into tears, started screaming, and then rolled around on the snow beneath the arch. Confess, you really wanted that truck, didn't you, Rick? "Not as bad as him," Mackey said. Mackey, the 1983 champ, crossed the finish line with black hair matted and sweat pouring down his cheeks. He pushed hard, not only for the $31,000 payoff, but to stay ahead of soon-to-follow Martin Buser and Rick Swenson. They were around 11/2 hours behind his time of 9 days, 13 hours, 35 minutes. "That really made my day," said Mackey of staying ahead of that duo. "What a field, huh?" During his swift 2-hour, 35-minute run in from Safety, the last checkpoint before Nome, it was almost as if Mackey was reviewing resumes. Including Swingley's third Iditarod win in a record time of 9 days, 58 minutes, the top eight owned 15 Iditarod titles and five Yukon Quests titles. Mackey himself has one of each, but he seemed happier than Roland with his placing. "I think I can win it again," Mackey said. "If you make Doug stay home. I'm just tickled to be here in sixth place. This is the best I could do." Mackey placed 16th last year, his first time back in the 1,100-mile run from Anchorage to Nome after a few years of focusing on the 1,000-mile Quest. He still marvels that the Iditarod has become so fast it is almost impossible to stop for a conversation without losing ground to a competitor. Now if he sees a fellow competitor on the trail, he just yells hello and keeps going. "In the old days, we would pull over and have a cup of coffee," he said. It was a night of champions. Mackey finished at 11:35 p.m. Tuesday, Buser just before 1 a.m. Wednesday and Swenson a few minutes after 1 a.m. Despite the lateness of the hour, each received a hearty reception from fans spilling onto Front Street from night spots. Buser, a three-time winner, hugged his sons, Nikolai, 11, and Rohn, 10, upon arrival. Only Rohn brought someone extra to be hugged. He pulled a 4-month-old Dachshund named Lucky out of his jacket - the Christmas present he received after pledging responsibile care. Buser joked that he had the choice of running "a regular-sized dog team, or 200 of these." Although he and Swenson finished close together, Buser said there wasn't that much racing going on; he just had more dog power. And Swenson didn't seem to care much about the difference between seventh and eighth, despite the $2,500 pay differential. "If you aren't first, it doesen't matter what position you come in," said Swenson, a five-time champ. Swenson, who was greeted with a shot glass of Scotch from old buddy and veteran Iditarod racer Sonny Lindner, said he got his routine out of rhythm way back down the trail, forcing him to run at warmer times of the day. Swingley came to the finish line to pay his respects and admitted that before the race Swenson was the musher who most worried him. Swenson said Swingley seems to travel under a magic bubble, avoiding 50 mph winds that trash other racers, and pledged that "his day is coming." "I still believe in Santa Claus," Swingley chimed in. * Sports editor Lew Freedman can be reached at lfreedman@adn.com
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