Tesoro Iron Dog is fueled and ready

Gene Jansen/For the Frontiersman

BIG LAKE - If you hear thunder around your breakfast table this morning, chances are you are missing the start of the world's toughest snowmachine race.

Teams from around the state will begin competing for part of a $75,000 purse today during the start of the Tesoro Iron Dog snowmachine race, which is set to begin at 11 a.m.

A lineup of 27 anxious pro racers and 13 rookie riders will be revving their throttles at the Call of the Wild restaurant in Big Lake before they sprint across the Alaska Range, bounce through interior Alaska to the icy coast of western Alaska and roar on to Nome. After they turn around and race back to Big Lake, competitors will have logged more than 2,000 miles across jaw-breaking, hard-packed terrain and soft, sloppy snow. Only about half of the racers finished the motor marathon last year.

The Kenai Peninsula team of Mark Carr and Dusty VanMeter are the defending champions, but there are plenty of Valley pros like three-time champion Todd Palin and six-time champion John Faeo to pressure them. Although the event will be made of 20 teams, there will be no trail-class riders in this year's race. Of the 20 teams, six will be rookie pairs.

Claiming the $23,250 first-place prize may be a difficult task. Recent heavy snow in the Alaska Range may stall racers' efforts to climb the 3,160-foot elevation gain through Rainy Pass, before heading past the Rohn checkpoint to the flats at Farewell Burn, where racers can open up to speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. Conserving fuel in the deep snow will be the key to winning this year.

"We have way more snow this year," chief race official Tim Jauhola said. "The rookies will have to watch the throttle or else burn lots of gas."

Extra fuel has been sent out to certain checkpoints in anticipation of racers consuming extra fuel through the deeper snow. The Rohn checkpoint is one such place, being one of the most challenging stops on the trail because it lies at the foot of a steep, winding descent out of Rainy Pass on the north side of the Alaska Range.

Iron Dog executive director Stacey Grohol made sure sufficient fuel has been distributed to Rohn and other checkpoints. She said 800 gallons of fuel have been delivered to Rohn just in case racers get a little too throttle-happy as they plow through deep, drifting snow.

A total of 50 55-gallon barrels of racing fuel alone have been distributed to strategic rural checkpoints between Big Lake and Nome, which have no fuel services available. Places like McGrath and Nome will be able to provide those services, but places like Rohn and Poorman do not. Local companies like Service Oil and Gas, Carlile Transportation Systems Inc. and Northern Air Cargo have seen to it that the fuel, oil, antifreeze and pallets of supplies make it into the Interior to aid racers and volunteers. They are among the hundreds of volunteers who help put on the event every year, weather permitting.