2025 Iron Dog - Day 5 Update
Simply completing this race, with all that it can throw at you, is quite the feat, and saying you're an 'Iron Dog finisher' is an accolade that most can't claim. Team 15 motored into Nome in 19th position, sweeping up the trail behind them to claim the last (course-time) spot into the Nome garage at 7:17pm.
Despite being 23 hours and 25 minutes of course time behind the leaders, Kim Bergeron and JP Bernier appeared to be in good spirts and are a little more than halfway through to claiming their 'finisher' street cred that won't ever expire.
Behind them, Team 5 (who ran into big mechanical issues in Kotzebue) lost an incredible amount of trail-time after spending 6 hours and 30 minutes working to get a motor running. The boys still wound up checking into Nome with a current course time of 38:42 securing them an 11th position before heading back toward Big Lake tomorrow. Video from White Mountain checkpoint here.
Team 20 was lucky to arrive into the halfway point unscathed as 12-time Iron Dog racer Brad George hit a drift and tumbled off a bridge. Lucikly he was uninjured but the machine sustained some light damage that will be repaired in the garage. More in the article from KNOM.
Today's zero-throttle day doesn't mean you can lay off the gas, as teams are given an 'off-the-clock' 15 minute inspection time where they will give each machine a through inspection to determine what parts and associated tools they will need for their necessary repairs and maintenance.
After the inspection time, each team will be given two support crew to work with as the clock starts and their maintenance can be completed. Often we see other teams lending a hand to their competitors and often family members fly to Nome to help during this time. Below you can see all four working on one sled. With a 14 minute lead, Team 20 was on the clock for repairs. Lots of maintenance was being done along with track tensioning, front suspension swaps, etc.
We typically see a wide range of times and tweaking in the Nome garage, but it's not all a long drawn-out process. In 2024 Champions Cody Barber and Brett Lapham spent 3 scant minutes on their sleds and the top 6 teams in total averaged about 6 minutes apiece.
In contrast we saw two teams (Team 14 and Team 8) come into Nome under tow, which could indicate larger issues. Yesterday it was suspected that a simple exhaust sensor was the issue for Team 14. Below you can see them changing a pipe in one of their Polaris sleds.
Rookie Team 4 showed us that 'your home turf' is meaningful as Wilson Hoogendorn and Bubba McDaniel, both hailing from Nome, set the fastest time yesterday on the 342 mile leg from Kotzebue to Nome making the trek in 5:15:48.
