Sponsors help support iconic Alaskan race

Our Iron Dog partners

Generous support helps race grow and thrive

When the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race kicks off on Day 1, it represents the culmination of thousands of volunteer hours, yearlong organizational planning and, most important the dollars to make it happen. Those dollars come from race fees, fund raisers and the countless partners who help pick up the tab.

“Iron Dog has a very loyal group of returning sponsors, and we’re lucky for their support, and could not put on the race without them,” said Iron Dog’s board president Roger Brown. “We’ve added several new sponsors this year, including Red Dog / Teck, MTA and Lubetech. Others, like the Northwest Arctic Borough who have been longtime volunteers, came on board as an official sponsor for the first time.”

The relationship is mutually beneficial, too. Many of the gear and manufacturer partners depend on the feedback they get from racers, who put their gear to the ultimate test. The Iron Dog racecourse is the ideal proving grounds for all things snowmachine related. For decades, manufacturers have relied on the experiences and advice of veteran Iron Dog racers to improve upon the snowmachines, riding gear and safety apparel racers need.

“For sure, what we learn from our Iron Dog racers is what we use to build a better product,” said Korey Cronquist, owner of Team CC SkiDoo, who sponsors such racing teams as Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad (Team 7), Chad Gueco and Cody Moen (Team 8), Brad George, and Robby Schachle (Team 6), and Greg Strohmeyer and Stan James (Team 20).

Tyler Aklestad of Team 7, and the 2020 race champion, said he and partner Nick Olstad work closely with Ski-Doo to provide valuable feedback, which will be particularly insightful after the release the new 2022 Ski-Doo 600 XRS Competitions they will be racing.

They have “stronger rear suspension components, better two-ply tracks, and a few other refinements that make it almost ready to go,” Aklestad said. “Now you can just throw some studs on the track, and you are good to go.”

Racer Mike Morgan, of Team 10 will be providing similar feedback to sponsor Polaris. He and teammate Chris Olds are two-time back-to-back Iron Dog champions (2018 and 2019) and will be racing on the new Polaris Cross Country 600, which essentially came to them race-ready.

“Previously, in every Iron Dog I’ve done, we take a consumer sled and modify it,” Morgan said. “On (the Cross Country 600), they put a lot of the stronger parts on it that we’ve run for years, and the rear suspension that we’ve ran the last few seasons. We’re really happy to see them do this race sled for us.”

Chris Graeber, general manager of Hatcher Pass Polaris, said the Cross Country 600 was made in limited quantities and is only available to racers.

“It was designed during Iron Dog last year,” Graeber said. “It’s exclusive to racers only, and we have close to 26 ourselves at our dealership. I would say at least 90 percent of Polaris racers will be on the Cross Country.”

Klim is a major sponsor of the race, and like the sled manufacturers, the racer feedback allows Klim to push the limits on its clothing and sled accessory advancements. The improvements suggested by Iron Dog racers get passed down to the everyday consumer, who always wants to stay warm, dry and comfortable.

“We came up with the 840-D (the “D” stands for “denier”) in an

MEGAN ROLLINGER Race sponsor and partner banners fly in the wind awaiting the start of the 2021 Iron Dog.

attempt to make a bombproof fabric,” he said. “That was a material that took us almost eight years to develop, utilizing some of the Iron Dog racers for durability testing, like Chris Olds and Mike Morgan.”

Pancheri said when looked at in this way, sponsorship not only helps Iron Dog stage a great race, but it also makes good financial business sense too.

“A lot of the Iron Dog guys are running our commercial gear – that’s what we’re selling to the public. We have learned that the Iron Dog is kind of the harshest conditions around.”

Still critical to the Iron Dog, though, are the countless family- and Alaska-owned businesses and companies that sign on as partners to support the race. Some support the overall race, others have favorite teams – either particular teams or the race as a whole. They contribute because they care about the race, the racers and continuing to support such an iconic Alaska event.

“Iron Dog is unique in that we have national corporate sponsors and locally owned family-owned businesses who are passionate about our sport,” said Iron Dog board president. “We are grateful for their support.”

www.Teck.com/reddog

Thank you, sponsors & supporters!

• Dave and Penny McKibbon and Bill “Fish” Fisher for your countless hours of dedication to this race! • Harriett Fenerty for your donation and continued loyalty to celebrating the race and our traditions. • Chris Graeber, Johnny Dean and Stan Brown, and many others for your coverage of the stats during race week: Thank you! • The Iron Dog Board and your family and friends! • To the media: Thank you in advance for your coverage — we thank you, our racers thank you , our sponsors thank you, and our manufacturers thank you! • To our sponsors: Thank you to all of our stalwart sponsors and welcome to some of our new sponsors for 2022 Iron Dog: MTA, City of Wasilla, Lube Tech, Red Dog / Teck, Quintillion, Stud Boy, Nova Minerals, Northwest Arctic Borough and the City of Kotzebue. • Stan James (Valley Imaging) & Wade Erickson, (Capstone) Thank You for the guidance during this race. • Thank You to our Tech Inspector Dave Bathke and Race Marshals Steve Swenson, Tim Jauhola and Tyson Johnson. • To our volunteers on and off the trail ,we cannot say enough. Thank you for the time you give. • To our fans: Thank you for watching and thank you in advance for sharing your pictures, videos AND LIVE Feeds as we travel through your community! • To the racers: We appreciate your dedication to the race and your efforts to ensure we race in 2022 in a safe manner. Thank you for your patience, your voices and your leadership.