Down to the wire Man, machine and elements determine Iron Dog outcome
“We kept telling each other, ‘It’s our pace, our race.’ ” — Brad George, Team 6, on their 2021 victory
PHOTO / MEGAN ROLLINGER
Team 6, Robby Schachle and Brad George, belatedly celebrate their victory in the 2021 Iron Dog, after finding out they had passed Team 14 in the final miles of the race.
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ven though Brad George and Robby Schachle won the 2021 Iron Dog race, fulfilling lifelong dreams for both of them, the Team 6 powerhouse still feels like they have something to prove. Crossing the finish line in Big Lake last year, the pair didn’t even know that they were the first team across the line. “I just wish I knew I won,” said George, 28, who with Schachle is back again to defend his title. “The last five miles everyone says is the best five miles of the race.” George, whose father Andy won the race in 2006, grew up dreaming of following in his father’s footsteps. “When I was a little kid it was my dream to come across the line holding up my hand in No. 1,” he said. “Then we come across No. 1, and we had no idea.” Indeed the 2021 race took a last-minute twist when Team 14, Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie had the lead into the final miles of the race. Thinking at that point that the lead was too wide to bridge, George asked them for a favor at the Skwentna checkpoint. “We’re all friends and we’ve been competing against each other for years,” George said. “So, I told Casey and Bryan, ‘You guys have to do something for me: You have to hold up No. 1 – do it for me.’ And they said they’d do it.” But, proving that anything can – and does – happen in the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race, Team 14 veered off trail, ran into mechanical problems and struggled to recover – all while Team 6 unwittingly passed them by. I’ll take it, a win’s a win,” said Schachle, 35. “It was still a huge accom10 / I R O N D O G
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2022
plishment but at the same time I want to know that I was in first place when I go across that finish line. It took about four times of people saying ‘You won, you won!’ for it to really sink in.” Bob Menne, in his first year as Iron Dog’s executive director, said this year’s race will surely offer up more of the unexpected as well – that’s part of what makes the race so exciting. “The interest level in Iron Dog is strong,” he said. “There are quite a few racers from the Lower 48 as well, and that bodes well for Iron Dog that the interest is so high.” Likewise, there are an increased number of racers from the communities along the racecourse, which is equally as exciting, Menne added. Of the 58 racers in the Pro Class, 12 live, or are from, off the Alaska road system. “We are continuing to add Iron Dog events along the course this year to bring a celebration like that of the start and finish, including inflatable arches in Nome and Kotzebue, and a festival in Galena and McGrath,” said Iron Dog board president Roger Brown. “We recognize that each chekpoint is a bit of a start and finish, and celebrating the race along the entire course is important.” While the course will stay the same, the “Kotzebue Loop” has been renamed the “Red Dog Loop” for new sponsor Red Dog / Teck, Menne added.
DEEP FIELD OF TALENT While George and Schachle will be the “team to beat” this year, the race is still anyone’s to win. There are 29 teams, made up of 25 veterans
