Sass a couple hours from Kaltag. Very strategic to stop there. His dogs are moving very slow from cutting rest. Kaltag to Unalakleet is 85-87 miles (Polaris odometer/ski doo odometer). He has a good lead and has a mandatory 8 hour to take. I'm betting he'll take it there.
When they hit the coast, dog teams from windy, treeless Alaska have an advantage. Interior and Willow teams don't contend with wind and disorienting landscapes. Petits leaders led him on a wild goose chase couple years back. Cost him the race.
Richie Diehls 14 dog team could pull away, if the top 3 miss the trail just once. Treeless alaska dogs are like little arrows in the wind, sniffing out the trail.
When my dog team was up in Kotz, I went and vaccinated all of Ed and Ruth Itens dogs. Ed used to hope for wind and blizzards on the coastal section of the trail. His dogs did immensely well in those conditions, because they were born into it.
