Past champions pack an impressive Iron Dog race roster
Cory Davis and Wes Selby of Christian Brothers Racing are back for the 2025 Iron Dog Race. Davis won the race the last time he entered, in 2017. Photo courtesy Cory Davis
Iron Dog 2025 is shaping up to be crowded at the front of the pack, as several past champions are back in the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race – and all of them are in it to win it.
“There’s a lot of talented guys this year, but we’re here to bring home the trophy,” said Cory Davis, who in 2017 with teammate Ryan Simons came away with the victory. Davis hasn’t raced in the pro class since 2017 but rode in 2024 on the Ambassador Team to Nome. This year, Davis is partnering with longtime friend and fellow pro racer Wes Selby of Colorado.
Indeed, this year’s competition is impressive. Twenty-seven teams met the early bird deadline, compared to 23 last year. This year’s field includes four teams from such remote Alaska communities as Nome and Kotzebue, 10 racers from the Lower 48, and 22 rookies. As of mid-October, 31 teams are scheduled to race – that’s eight more teams than the 2024 start list, and with rumors of several teams working on requesting late entry approvals by the Iron Dog Board.
Among the competition, there are currently nine past champions entered this year. And none of them are guaranteed winners.
“Having this many past champions, including several who haven’t raced in a few years is going to change the dynamics dramatically – I don’t expect any of them to have anything less than a win in their plan,” said Iron Dog Executive Director Mike Vasser. These champions represent some of the greatest athletes in the world and having so many in the field is pretty special, Vasser said. But the level of the race changes every year so being gone even a year or two will make it exciting to watch, he added.
“The field as it sits now really speaks to what we’re trying to do as an organization,” said Vasser, “People want to be associated with the event, they are excited to be part of what we’re doing in the communities, how we’re giving back, and we are growing the sport! It’s more than just a grueling 2,500-mile race. It’s an investment in our sport, our communities along the way, and our Alaskan can-do-it toughness.”
Robby Schachle and Brad George celebrate their 2021 Iron Dog victory. They are back after a two-year break. Iron Dog file photo
For Robby Schachle, who with Brad George captured the win in 2021 after passing Team 14’s Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie in the last minutes of the race, the Iron Dog was calling his name yet again. Schachle took 2023 and 2024 off from pro racing but was a key leader on the Ambassador Team to Nome in 2024. He last raced Pro Class in 2022, finishing fourth with George. Being back on the trail as an Ambassador team rider in 2024 after a two-year break made him realize how much he missed it.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Schachle said. “With Brad and his new baby, both of us working a ton, new sleds, getting back at it – it’s all feeling new. You lose so much in two years. It’s almost like we are rookies again.”
Also back this year is Tyson Johnson, who raced to victory in 2016 with Team 8 partner Tyler Aklestad. He has raced in more than 20 Iron Dogs and last entered the Pro Class in 2020 with then-Team 6 teammate Brad George. While he has stayed involved in Iron Dog, serving as race marshal for the past several years, there is nothing quite like being back in the high-speed saddle. He and partner Tom Davis are Team 8 this year.
Past Iron Dog champion Tyson Johnson is returning to the race after last racing in 2020. His partner is Tom Davis. Iron Dog file photo
“I was planning on missing only one or two years after that 2020 race, and I was going to come back,” Johnson said. “But life happens. With two kids and working full time, it gets busy, and trying to find the right partner mattered too.”
That’s where Davis came in, he said.
“I wanted somebody that I felt like we could potentially win with, I didn’t want to just go with anybody,” he said. “Tom is fairly inexperienced with Iron Dog but has lots of experience with a lot of other aspects of snowmachining, like mechanics. He can weld and fabricate and do a lot of wrenching because he’s off all winter.”
Most of all, Johnson said, they complement each other as riders and friends, which is key to a successful race bid.
Also back in for the 2025 race there are five racers with wins who’ve stayed very much in the mix and at the front of the pack. Back for 2024 are past champions Nick Olstad and Tyler Aklestad (Team 7), Mike Morgan (with Bradley Kishbaugh Team 6), Chris Olds (with Ryan Sottosanti Team 10) and Todd Palin (with Klinton VanWingerden Team 49) looking to add podium finish again to their resume.
“It’s not just the number of champions that is adding to the excitement of this race, though,” said Vasser. “We have three veteran women racing this year – Ashley Wood and Andy Gocke are racing together; husband-and-wife team Tim and Hillarie Gossett are pairing up; and Dani (Danielle) and Larry Levine are back as a father-daughter team.
“Don’t get me wrong – I am thrilled to see so many champs in the field, but it’s going to be equally exciting to watch the young talent this year,” Vasser said. “Having 16 racers under the age of 30 and 22 rookies bodes well for the future of this sport and this race.”
It is true: Being champion doesn’t ensure a win. In 2024 Team 39’s Cody Barber and Brett Lapham captured their first win in the 2024 race after chasing the top guys for years.
Team 39, who won the 2024 race in a course time of 52 hours, 36 minutes, 10 seconds, will be noticeably absent this year, Vasser said. Lapham is expected to ride in the Expedition Class, while Barber is taking a hiatus from the Iron Dog trail. This is the first time in six years that a champion team has not returned to defend their title.
Davis, who has spent most of his racing career as a freestyle and snocross racer, has known Wes Selby for years, and are team members with Christian Brothers Racing. Their racing circuit often ended just two weeks prior to the start of Iron Dog, making preparation for the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race a challenge. But now that Davis has more time, Iron Dog is beckoning.
“I’m a huge fan of this race,” he said. “Growing up as a kid watching my dad (Scott Davis, Hall of Famer with seven wins under his belt) who prepared all winter, there’s a balance. I try not to overthink this and make it my entire winter; I try to look at it as just another race. If we’re signing up, we’re here to win.”
Schachle, too, is hungry for another victory.
“After doing the Ambassador Class, it brought back so many memories and brought back the itch a little bit,” Schachle said. “There’s a lot of talent this year. It’s going to be a real showdown. I think there is going to be a lot of crashes, a lot of carnage; it’s going to turn into a sprint race. Whoever stays healthy and their equipment survives is going to win it.”
“Robby makes a strong point there,” Vasser said. “If I were a racer without a trophy of any sort, I’d be thinking, ‘Stay clean!”
This year’s past champion entrants and their number of wins
• Team 6 Mike Morgan – 2
• Team 7 Nick Olstad – 6 wins
• Team 7 Tyler Aklestad – 4 wins
• Team 8 Tyson Johnson – 1 win
• Team 10 Chris Olds – 4 wins
• Team 20 Robby Schachle – 1 win
• Team 20 Brad George – 1 win
• Team 21 Cory Davis – 1 win
• Team 49 Todd Palin – 4 wins
Stay tuned for increasing Iron Dog coverage as we build to race day. Next up, we talk to the Lower 48 racers who are in the mix for the 2025 race, including returning veterans Team 15 Kim Bergeron and JP Bernier, rookie Trent Johnson from Wisconsin, and Alex Hetten of Minnesota, who is grandson of Polaris founding partner Allan Hetten.