So where has the race analysis been for this race? Well, it has been busy. Old Friendly Dog Farm had a team in the Bogus and the Dash, and that’s a handful. In addition, Ryan Air sponsored the basketball tourney, and Andy has been heavily involved in that as a player and as one of the organizers. Six from that tourney stayed at our house. You get the idea.
So what has happened so far? No surprises in the Bogus and Dash. Both winners are teams that are hard to beat. Louis Pavilla races a fast team of dogs that is capable of winning any race he enters. He has threatened to enter the K300 but never has. It is time for him to take that next step.
The Nose team is even faster, and no one can catch them in the Dash it seems. Even with rookie driver Randy Nose in charge, the team won by half an hour in the 65 mile race. Perhaps with a little study we can learn if that is the biggest winning margin ever, but I am guessing it is. As with Pavilla and the 300, the Nose team needs to move up to the Bogus and give it a try.
There used to be a rule that the winner of one of our shorter races was not eligible to compete in that race the next year, as a means of developing more local K300 teams, but that rule was not popular with some racers who didn’t want to move into the longer races. In fact, we even provided free entry into the next higher race for the winners. If you think we should still have that rule, let the race committee know and it will be considered.
Now for the 300. I suppose it can be called a surprise when a team like King’s can come back after not racing since 2009, and not winning since 2006, and win easily, but of course for an 8 time champion, it really is not a surprise. King has a line of dogs that is obviously ideal for this race, and even though this batch of dogs has not raced here before, their breed line has won enough times to qualify as contenders anytime they take part. And of course King himself has the race pretty well figured out. As for his age, that is not nearly as big a factor in dog racing as in most other competitive events, because performing while sleep deprived is a trait that is often easier for folks with more experience doing it. Of course, new easy rider sleds make it more comfortable for older racers to compete. In this race, because of no hills, the dogs can do most of the work and an seasoned driver just has to work in the checkpoints.
What happened to last year’s champion Rohn Buser? A blistering pace headed up river put him in a good position to win, but keeping up that kind of pace is tough. After a layover in Kalskag, the dogs usually depart with a slower pace. With about 200 miles to go, that Saturday pace is the key to victory here. Its not which team is the fastest that wins these kind of races, it’s the team that slows down to the fastest pace. In other words, you need to be faster when you are going slow. The team I used to race in the 300 was a notoriously slow starting bunch, but they held that pace for a long time, often catching and passing teams that has passed us earlier.
It is fun to see Tony Browning running with the leaders. Tony was a regular at this race for many years, but hasn’t raced here since 2000. This promises to be his best finish ever. Expect a finish for King between 11 and noon today.
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