Defending champions Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad will team up for another Iron Dog, the 2,031-mile snowmachine race across Alaska that could start in Anchorage this winter.
Efforts continue to institute a Saturday start in Anchorage. A restart would follow the next day, Sunday, Feb. 22, at Big Lake.
Iron Dog executive director Kevin Kastner said it's "likely" that Anchorage will be part of the 2015 event. Details are still being worked out, he said.
The Iron Dog website indicates that Anchorage will play a big role in the leadup to the race, although it notes that the schedule is subject to change.
The annual safety expo and tech inspection, usually in Wasilla, will be in Anchorage. Also scheduled are freestyle snowmachine shows Friday night and Saturday afternoon, before and after the proposed downtown Anchorage race start.
The freestyle shows are a nod to the X Games factor, which has created a fan base for snowmachine trick riders. Two X Games medalists -- Alaska's Cory Davis and Canada's Ryan Simons -- will test their endurance riding skills, and their mechanical know-how, in the 2015 race. They finished ninth last year.
Minnick and Olstad lead a field of 35 teams that signed up this week to run what is known as the world's longest, toughest snowmachine race. The route takes two-person teams from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks.
The Wasilla team, which also won in 2009, averaged 55 mph on its way to a second victory. Minnick-Olstad finished in 36 hours, 58 minutes, 37 seconds, beating Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter by 22 minutes.
McKenna and VanMeter, the champions in 2012 and 2013, have not signed up, and Kastner said he doesn't know if they will. Teams have until Oct. 31 to enter.
Also absent from the early entries: seven-time champion Scott Davis, dad of Cory.
The race field includes four father-son teams, a couple of brother-brother teams and one all-women's team. Ashley Wood, an Iron Dog rookie but a veteran racer from Soldotna, and Rachel Kidwell, a former UAA volleyball player, hope to become the second all-women's team to complete the race. The 2000 team of Jackie Page and Missy McClurg is the only all-women's team to make it to the finish line.
Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com.