Sass 20 miles from a win, Robinson hot on his heels

In a confusing morning of watching trackers, where backtracking teams made it look like they were speeddemons and winning a race they'd just restarted hours earlier, it seems most are back on track now and it's Brent Sass who leads the Knik 200. The 2022 Champion was first out of the halfway point early this morning, but just seven minutes behind was Jr Champion and superstar Emily Robinson (yes, this blog has become a full on Robinson stan). Robinson has now closed that gap to less than three minutes - and at one point early on in the run to Eagle Quest 2 was leading - with several hours of mushing still to go it isn't a sure deal who will come first.

Fans woke with confusion when they saw Ed Hopkins already heading into the finish with what the tracker said was an over 30 mile lead on Brent and Emily. What many didn't factor in was that the tracker was only going off of what the map was telling it - with a two loop race course - Hopkins turning around nearly 20 miles into the second loop caused all sorts of problems. Not to worry, however, musher and dogs returned to Knik Lake and are now showing as officially scratched. According to Kale Casey an official statement from the race will come later today.

Dave Turner, Josh McNeal, Joshua Ribbons, Matt Failor, Jessi Downy, and Sarah Giles also scratched today. No official statements out of the kennels yet as to official reasons, but with the temperatures above freezing (it's supposed to be a mix of rain and snow today now) it could be that no one is having much fun. Welfare of the team is always first and foremost.

There are still 31 teams out on the trail, and a champion should finish mid afternoon.