Sports

Defending champions lead Iron Doggers into Nome halfway point

Iron Dog teams roared into Nome on Tuesday, where drivers will get a long layover and a chance to work on repairs before hitting the trail for the second half of the 2,000-mile snowmachine race across Alaska.

Last year’s champions are this year’s leaders. Mike Morgan and Chris Olds were the first to reach the halfway point of the race, driving their Polaris machines into town at 2:49 p.m. They averaged 52 mph over 1,089 miles.

Morgan and Olds were the first team to leave McGrath on Tuesday and they didn’t relinquish their lead on the ride to Nome, and for that they were handsomely rewarded with $10,000 from Donlin Gold for being the first team to reach the halfway points.

Arriving five minutes later in second place was the team of Casey Boylan and Brian Leslie, who collected a $2,000 prize. The third-place team of Adam Drinkhouse-Brad George, which arrived 10 minutes after Morgan and Olds, received a $1,000 prize.

About 22 minutes after the leaders arrived, 2016 champions Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson reached Nome, the survivors of a scary wreck Sunday.

The Aklestad-Johnson team was part of a collision with 2014 champions Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad that sent Minnick to the hospital and knocked the Minnick-Olstad team out of the race. According to the Aklestad-Johnson team’s Facebook page, the wreck happened when Aklestad and Minnick were both breaking trail in poor visibility.

The Iron Dog rumor mill is in full swing so we thought we’d drop a line! Tyson and Tyler are okay, Tyler is a little...

Posted by Iron Dog Team 8 -Johnson/Aklestad on Sunday, February 17, 2019

Aklestad and Johnson were able to repair Aklestad’s sled and stay in the race, where they are making good time. The team said Tuesday on Facebook that it made the 75-mile run from White Mountain to Nome in less than 52 minutes.

ADVERTISEMENT

By 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 13 teams were in Nome and another three were on the trail to Nome. Eight of the 24 teams that started the race Sunday at Deshka Landing have scratched.

Teams will spend Wednesday in Nome, where a banquet is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Nome Mini-Convention Center. On Thursday morning teams will return to the trail for the second half of the race.

The winners will reach the Fairbanks finish line sometime during daylight Saturday.

Tuesday’s arrival times in Nome – Morgan-Olds 2:29 p.m., 2) Boylan-Leslie 2:54 p.m.; 3) Drinkhouse-George 2:59 p.m.; 4) Faeo-Schachle 3:05 p.m.; 5) Aklestad-Johnson 3:11 p.m.; 6) Lapham-Weisz 3:31 p.m.; 7) Cruise-Miller 4:33 p.m.; 8) Kleewein-Kleewein 4:45 p.m.; 9) Gumley-VanWingerden 5:48 p.m.; 10) Conner-Elder 6:06 p.m; 11) Barber-Barber 6:15 p.m.; 12) Miebs-Thibault 6:50 p.m.; 13) Boney-Unruh, 8:19 p.m.

En route to Nome – Levine-Levine, Mountain-Sommer, Krause-Lilly.

Scratched – Anselment-Baumgartner, Carlson-Masson, Huss-Selby, Oliver-Vaughn, Minnick-Olstad, Nikolai-Reader, Conlon-Menne, Berg-Chvastasz.

ADVERTISEMENT