Father, daughter preparing to race in the Iron Dog together

Iron Dog veteran of two decades Shane Barber will be joining his daughter Shana Lapham for her first Iron Dog as a racer.

Lapham, the only woman to race in pro class this year, is no stranger to Iron Dog and now joins her two brothers as the third generation of Iron Doggers in the family. The father-daughter team number 39 will be chasing a clean finish and quality family time in this year’s race.

“I’m super excited to be racing with my dad and I’m ready for a big adventure with him,” Lapham said.

Lapham spent much of her childhood on a snow machine in the winter and four wheelers during the summer. Weekends would find the family at races and it was a part of life she came to love. It was something that brought the family together.

“We always played outside, it’s what we did,” Lapham said. “We rode snow machines and on weekends we were at races. I’ve been surrounded by it my whole life. That’s just what my family did.”

Lapham started racing in 2012 when she was 17. It was a time when many of their friends within the snow machine community and her two brothers began racing.

Lapham would continue racing for a couple of years before attending school in Seward and graduating in 2015 to work at a CPA firm in Willow. With a busy tax season January through April, and a growing family with two young children, life began to take priority over her racing.

“It’s been very, very busy with life in the best way possible,” Lapham said.

Barber grew up in Big Lake and began riding snow machines at a young age. He worked at the local Yamaha dealership after school and thoroughly immersed himself in the sport. From that point on, Barber would do anything he could to position himself in the racing environment.

“I was hooked,” Barber said. “I thought it was one of the funnest things I’ve ever done and I wanted to do a lot more of that.”

Barber’s father-in-law Mike Spain raced in the first ever Iron Dog in 1984. Barber ran it with him for the first time in 2000 and would catch the Iron Dog bug. Barber’s wife, Tammy, raced in 2010.

Brett Lapham, Shana’s husband, and Cody Barber, her brother, won the 2023 Iron Dog. After the win, the two decided to take a couple of years off from racing. With their daughters growing and at a stable point in her career, Lapham felt it was as good a time as ever to race it for herself.

“We decided that it was my turn for Iron Dog, something I’ve always wanted to do,” Lapham said.

To this point Lapham was the only one in the family to not have raced Iron Dog. Barber will have now raced Iron Dog with all three of his kids, something that not many racers can say.

“I’m the last piece of the family Iron Dog puzzle,” Lapham said. “It felt like God put all these things into place for me to be able to do it this year and I just went for it. I’m excited and looking forward to doing it with my dad.”

Lapham is the only woman racing in the pro class this year. She said it isn’t uncommon to be racing among “a bunch of dudes.” She looks up to other women that have raced Iron Dog before.

“You feel like you’re on the same playing field as all of those guys,” Lapham said. “You have to be, to keep up with the pack.”

Lapham brought up the idea of racing during a family vacation last April. She said that Barber was very excited for the opportunity and had been waiting to race it with all three of his children.

“When your daughter asks if you want to go race Iron Dog, there’s only one right answer. And the answer is yes, so let’s go,” Barber said.

The two will be racing on a set of 2025 Polaris 600 Crosscountrys. Preparation so far has been wrenching on their machines as the conditions have not been conducive to riding. This is a proven strategy for Barber, as he prefers having complete understanding and faith in the machines they’ll be riding on.

The two will be putting on as many miles as they can leading up to the race, as Barber prefers putting on miles and conditioning for the trail in the last few weeks. Tammy, Barber’s wife and Lapham’s mother, owns Northbound Fitness Club in Willow and has been training the two.

“I perform best when I’m more conditioned closer to the event and I feel comfortable as far as the time we spent getting our sleds built and having those things ready at the starting line,” Barber said.

While Barber has raced with many partners over the years, his favorites have been with family.

“I’ve raced quite a bit with different people and had some really talented partners,” Barber said. “But my most enjoyable races have been with my sons. And that’s not to say that we finished the best, but that time with my sons, I expect it to be no different with my daughter. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most is experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity to have that one on one time out there doing something at this level with somebody that you really genuinely care about, and making memories.”

Son Evan Barber will be racing with Steffen Booth on team three and Barber said he looks forward to not only racing alongside two of his children, but being there to help them along the way. It means more to Barber to see his children succeed and employ the skills that it takes to be competitive with new partners and the next generation of racers.

“There’s really no ceiling to what they can do,” Barber said.

Jake and Carly Soplanda from Willow will be flying their support planes this year. Carly’s father, Scott Davis, is one of the winningest Iron Doggers in history. She, too, is no stranger to the race and Barber said he is excited to have their support this year.