Ambassador team adds to hefty Expedition class

Enjoying the ride

Ambassador team to showcase the World’s Longest Toughest Race

MEGAN ROLLINGER Iron Dog Hall of Famer, and three-time champion Bob Gilman, celebrates his 2021 race finish with Todd Palin. Gilman will be part of the 2022 Ambassador Team, riding alongside his daughter Crystal Johnson.

This year’s Iron Dog Expedition Class is one of the most stacked in recent memory. Not only is it one of the largest groups of Expedition Class riders to sign up at 12 teams, but it also includes a powerhouse team of “ambassador” riders, who plan to take their time along the way.

“We have 41 riders in the Expedition Class this year,” said Iron Dog Executive Director Bob Menne. “It’s a good thing for the overall race, because it gives riders a chance to get their feet wet, see if the Pro Class will one day be for them.”

This year’s Ambassador Team 77 is not at all lacking in experience. Comprised of three Iron Dog Pro Class veterans (two of whom have five victories between them), one with 21 I-500 races under his belt including multiple Top-10 and podium appearances; two avid mountain riders who can keep up with the best in the West; and a host of other local and industry representatives, the nine-person team will stop in every checkpoint to share in the spirit of the race with the people in the communities along the racecourse.

“We’ve done ambassador teams before, with Iron Dog representatives, industry representatives and other well-known individuals,” said Roger Brown, Iron Dog’s board president, a race veteran and one of the organizers of this year’s ride. “We try to incorporate people who support the race.”

Part of the goal, Brown said, is not only to let industry representatives see the race in which they support, but also to give back to the communities who host the pro racers as they fly through checkpoints racing the clock.

“It’s nice to be able to slow down, shake hands, talk to people, and thank them for volunteering,” Brown said. “They never get enough credit, it’s never enough. So now we can stay over in some places, stop in others, take our helmets off, and visit awhile.”

Bob Gilman, an Iron Dog Hall of Famer and three-time champion of the race, is looking forward to just that.

“I’ve never done the Trail Class or gone with an ambassador group,” said Gilman, 59, who finished his last pro class race in 2021 with Todd Palin. “It’s an honor to be invited, for sure, and I’m looking forward to taking it a little more slowly.”

Gilman said he is most looking forward to getting to ride with his daughter, Crystal Johnson, 41, who is joining the ambassador team not only to ride with her father, but also to represent the NANA region, as NANA Board of Directors member. He’d always wanted to race the Pro Class with her, but circumstances prevented it. This year, however, their schedules aligned and it was one of the main reasons he decided to join the group.

“She’s a sweetheart and she’s highly intelligent and she’s strong,” he said. “A couple of years ago we drove to Ptarmigan Pass and back together, so I have no reservations about her abilities to do this.”

Also to be noted, Gilman said, is Tyler Huntington’s participation in the group. Huntington, 36, won back-to-back Iron Dogs in 2010 and 2011, with then-partner Chris Olds. He and Gilman will partner up during the ambassador ride to make a presentation to kids in McGrath, talking about the race, and wintertime snnowmachine safety.

“We’re so lucky to have a guy of his age who’s more than capable of running the Pro Class who’s going to be out there with us,” he said. “His name on the Yukon River is highly respected and he’s just an amazing guy in his demeanor and abilities.”

Another element to the ambassador group is to give industry leaders a chance to experience the racecourse, Brown said.

“We have two Polaris reps and they, live, breathe, eat snowmachines,” he said. “They are constantly testing and comparing, and this is a great opportunity for them.”

Eric Christensen of Centuria, Wis., and Tim Heffron of Rouseau,

COURTESY TYLER HUNTINGTON Tyler Huntington is part of the 2022 Iron Dog Ambassador team that will be visiting in communities along the Iron Dog Trail. Huntington is a two-time Iron Dog championn and lives in Galena.

IRON DOG FILE Team 11, Tyler Huntington and Todd Palin, above, arrive at Shell Lake Lodge during the 2014 race. This year, Huntington, a two-time Iron Dog champion, will be part of Iron Dog’s Ambassador Team, traveling frrom Big Lake to Nome to Kotzebue. At right, Iron Dog board president Roger Brown, vice president Doug Dixon, and staging volunteer Savana House chat with X Games athlete Paul Thacker as they await the finishers of the 2021 race. This year Brown is leading the Ambassador team.

Minn., will be representing Polaris, and John Summers, of Rexburg, Idaho, will be representing Klim.

“Eric’s been dreaming about this since the ’80s,” Brown said. “Watching it from Facebook is one thing, but seeing it is something all new. And John Summers is a mountain rider so it’s going to be a whole new experience for him to be here too.

“It’s because of dedicated partners like Klim and Polaris that allows us to be able to have an ambassador team in the first place,” Brown continued. “Both have been longtime supporters of Iron Dog, and when given the opportunity to help with an ambassador team, they both jumped on board. They not only get to represent Iron Dog and the snowmobile industry as ambassadors, they get to use Iron Dog as a proving ground to test new gear and snowmachines.”

Rounding out the ambassador group is Wade Erickson, who founded Capstone Clinics, which is a generous supporter of the race; and Seth Kroenoke, who completed the Expedition Class last year and is back for more fun this year.

Erickson is going to be spreading awareness for living kidney donation; he donated a kidney four years ago. He joked that his race sled was the donor last year; after scratching from the Expedition Class in Galena, his sled served as a donor parts sled for several teams that needed help during the race.

A TASTE OF ADVENTURE

The Expedition Class is just as it is described. Teams entering this class of Iron Dog ride expedition style, comfortably and at speeds that let them slow down and enjoy the Alaska wilderness. At the halfway point in Nome, they will take part in halfway ceremonies with other Expedition Class riders and Pro Class racers. But while the other Expedition Class teams’ trips will end in Nome, the Ambassador Team will continue on from Nome, backtracking to Koyuk and making their way to Kotzebue. There the trip will continue – “Or who knows? Maybe we will decide to ride all the way home,” Gilman said.

Your 2022 Iron Dog Race Ambassador Team

Roger Brown (Polaris)

Age: 43 • From: North Pole Eric Christensen (Polaris)

Age: 55 • From: Centuria, Wis. Wade Erickson (Ski-Doo)

Age: 51 • From: Wasilla Bob Gilman (Ski-Doo)

Age: 59 • From: Wasilla Tim Heffron (Polaris)

Age: 30 • From: Roseau, Minn. Tyler Huntington (Polaris)

Age: 36 • From: Galena Crystal Johnson (Arctic Cat)

Age: 41 • From: Kiana Seth Kroenke (Ski-Doo)

Age: 43 • From: Palmer John Summers (Polaris)

Age: 48 • From: Rexburg, Idaho