Valley duo wins Iron Dog

FAIRBANKS —A pair of Mat-Su riders are Iron Dog champions.

Palmer’s Eric Quam and Wasilla’s Scott Faeo crossed the finish line at 12:32 p.m. in Fairbanks Saturday to win the 2015 race. It marked the second career victory for Quam, who last won in 2008. His teammate added another title to the Faeo family legacy. It was the first title for Scott Faeo, the son of seven-time Iron Dog champion John Faeo.

The Valley team covered 2,031 miles worth of rough and rugged trail in 41 hours, 46 minutes and 52 seconds. Quam and Faeo had an average speed of 49 mph on the trail.

The champions finished about 46 minutes ahead of the runner-up, Anchorage’s Aaron Bartel and Soldotna’s Scott Davis.

With the title, Quam and Faeo earned $50,000 of the race’s $254,000 purse.

Quam and Faeo lead a Valley-heavy front of the pack. Five of the top seven teams in the final standings are made up of two Valley racers. A sixth team in the top seven has one Valley rider.

Wasilla’s father-son tandem of Andy George and Brad George finished fourth in the race. Team George hit the finish line at 2:04 p.m. Saturday afternoon, covering the course in 44 hours, 28 minutes.

This was the third career race for George, 21, who also finished in 2013. Andy George was the 206 Iron Dog champion.

Cody Barber and Brett Lapham, a pair of race rookies from Willow, finished fifth. Barber, 21, started, but did not finish, the 2012 and 2013 Iron Dog races. This was the first try for Lapham, 22. The Barber-Lapham team finished in 46 hours, 13 minutes.

Chad Gueco and Andrew Zwink, both of Wasilla, finished sixth in the race.

Willow’s Shane Barber and Wasilla’s Ryan Sottosanti placed seventh. Shane Barber is the father of Cody Barber.