Jan. 31, 2022 (ANCHORAGE) — Iron Dog Race, Inc., has inducted two longtime supporters of the race into its 2022 Iron Dog Hall of Fame. 

Jim Wilke, raised in Nome, has supported the race almost since its inception, as a racer, board member, sponsor, and partner. Wilke is being recognized for his contributions not only to the race, but also to the racers, who he also has supported over the years. 

Marc McKenna is a four-time Iron Dog champion who started his racing career when he was 18 years old. He went on to win the 2005 Iron Dog with then-rookie racer Nick Olstad, the 2008 race with partner Eric Quam, and back-to-back wins in 2012 and 2013 with partner Dusty VanMeter. 

The Iron Dog Racer Draw & Hall of Fame Banquet will be held at 6pm on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at the Curtis Menard Center (Wasilla).  Tickets are available by calling 907-563-4414.  Reservations are required.  

For additional information please contact director@irondog.org, or call 907-563-4414.

 Iron Dog Race, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Alaska corporation. For more information, call Bob Menne, Iron Dog executive director, at 907-563-4414.

JIM WILKE

Race veteran, longtime race supporter and former board member Jim Wilke has been a part of the Iron Dog landscape since the very earliest days of the race. He is being inducted into the 2022 Iron Dog Hall of Fame to recognize the considerable impact he has had on the race, the Iron Dog Board, and sponsorship and support he provided countless racers over the years. 

Born and raised in Nome, Wilke originally got involved with snowmachining as a natural extension of everyday life in a remote area. 

“There’s not much to do in the winter in Nome, it’s a long dang winter,” Wilke said. “I started racing as a 16-year-old kid, and raced for 15, 20 years in Nome, then stumbled into Anchorage.”

When the idea for the Iron Dog race came to fruition, Wilke dabbled on the competitive side – his Iron Dog high point was the year he entered the Pro Class with Iron Dog Hall of Famer Bob Gilman and they placed fourth. 

But what Wilke said he is most proud of was his time in the ’90s helping to keep the race going. He served on the board for more than a dozen years between the late ’80s and through 2016, and as owner of Alaska Power Sports was able to offer sponsorship support to both the race and racers.

“Jim’s been a tremendous supporter of the race over the years, said Bob Menne, Iron Dog’s executive director. “He just wanted to have people exposed to Iron Dog and be part of it, and he helped everyone.” 

Wilke said his love of the sport can be traced back to his childhood, when snowmachines started showing up in the ’60s and he got to know Barrow Morgan, who owned Nome’s Polaris dealership and encouraged youth to ride and race.   

“It was 1966, and all of a sudden there were snowmachines everywhere. I remember standing on Main Street, and Barrow Morgan had this Polaris. Someone said, ‘Look at that guy! He must be going 50 mph.’ ” 

Wilke said Morgan (also Team 10 racer Mike Morgan’s grandfather) inspired him to ride and race, setting an example that he admired.

“(Barrow) was always there for us. He didn’t have to be. He made way more money selling machines to people who wanted to just go ice fishing than racing, but he did it because he loved it and he thought it was a fun thing to do. When I started a dealership I did the same – it was a way for me to give back. He did for me what I tried to do for others.”

Wilke doesn’t ride these days due to chronic back pain, and he sold Alaska Power Sports in 2001. However, he remains a diehard Iron Dog fan.

“I thought the race was important and I wanted to do what I could to support it,” Wilke said. “The racers, volunteers, sponsors and fans are all important. They all should be recognized.” 

MARC McKENNA

Four-time Iron Dog race champion Marc McKenna credits his entry into the sport to pioneer racer Dan Zipay, who introduced him to snowmachining when McKenna was about 18 years old.

“I’d never been an outdoorsman, never hunted and fished,” McKenna said. “It was an awesome 20 years of my life, and it consumed every year of my life during that time.”

This year, that time commitment is being recognized as McKenna is being entered into the Iron Dog Hall of Fame. He joins one of his former teammates, Dusty VanMeter, who received the same honor in 2020.

McKenna’s naturally competitive spirit helped launch him into the upper echelon of racing. During his rookie race, he finished 13th, leaving him hungry for more. 

“I fought hard to finish my rookie year,” he said. “Not even 80 miles into the race, my rear suspension fell out right behind Shell Lake Lodge, and we spent hours trying to fix that. Then I had a hole in my tunnel about the size of a silver dollar when we got to Nome. After that, we limped it all the way to Fairbanks, and then my motor blew up coming into Nenana. We learned a lot that year.” 

McKenna said like all successful racers, he relied on a huge team of support – the financial and flight support of his twin brother, Matthew; the mentorship of such racers as Zipay and Mark Torkelson; the mechanical expertise of friends Don Jones and Dan Ryznar; and his racing partnerships with Nick Olstad, Eric Quam and VanMeter. 

It was with these last three that McKenna captured victory: in 2005 with Olstad, 2008 with Quam, and back-to-back wins in 2012 and 2013 with VanMeter.

“I was pretty fortunate to have those guys in my life,” he said. “They are all tremendous competitors.”

It’s hard to boil his entire racing career into one most-cherished moment, but McKenna said if he had to, it would probably be his 2005 victory with Nick Olstad, who was a rookie at the time and today is one of the most competitive in the field. 

“Me and Nick pretty much led the whole race, and that’s the year it went from Big Lake, Nome, then back to Big Lake. That was a big accomplishment coming into Big Lake having a rookie with me.”

It was a well-earned win for both, he added, and Olstad, who had just signed on to race three weeks prior to the start, proved his mettle. 

“Nick blew a pipe in Nulato on the way up, and he’s a better mechanic in the field, so he fixed it,” McKenna said. “He cut up the lid of a gourmet popcorn container and wired it around the tank so it wouldn’t melt.”

Olstad said that rookie year with McKenna taught him valuable race skills he still relies on today. 

“You just ride as fast as you can, but ride smart, and be as fast as you can at checkpoints,” Olstad said. “You always hustle, because when you get to a checkpoint, you want to go slow, but if you waste just one minute at every checkpoint, that’s 20 minutes.”

Olstad, who today is tied with McKenna with four wins, said that spur-of-the-moment decision to partner with McKenna — much like Dan Zipay’s influence over McKenna back in the ’90s —  has shaped his career as a pro racer. 

That mutual support is how Iron Dog Hall of Famers are born.