The Iron Dog Snowmobile race has added more prize money to this year’s pot. In the “Race to Skwentna” challenge, the fastest pro-class team to the first checkpoint will now receive $5,000 – increasing the contingency prizes to $112,000.
The 2017 race purse totals more than $250,000 – with the top 5 teams taking home a total of $145,000.
In a release last week, Iron Dog Executive Director Kevin Kastner says the race has been working on steadying and expanding its financial foundation for the past seven years – amidst economic changes in Alaska, as well as some variations in sponsorships this year.
Following the new $5,000 prize, the first pro-class team to Nome will receive a $10,000 cash “Gold Rush Prize.”
35 pro-class teams from around the state will compete in the 2017 Iron Dog race starting Saturday, February 18th with the halfway ceremony in Nome scheduled for February 22nd.
