Dallas Seavey Wins a Record Sixth Iditarod Race Despite Penalty for Improperly Killing and Gutting Moose

Seavey was penalized by race officials for failing to properly gut the moose he claims "became entangled with" his dogs on the trail

• Musher Dallas Seavey is the 2024 Iditarod Sled Dog Race champion

• The win is Seavey's sixth Iditarod championship, the most in the race's history

• Seavey overcame a two-hour penalty delay for failing to properly gut a moose he killed on the trail

Musher Dallas Seavey became the first six-time champion in Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race history, overcoming a significant setback when he was penalized for how he gutted a moose he killed on the trail.

Seavey, 37, finished the 52nd Iditarod at 5:16 p.m. on Tuesday, recording a total time of 9 days, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 8 seconds to cross the approximate 975 miles to Nome, Alaska, according to an Iditarod press release.

Seavey celebrated the win in a Facebook post on Tuesday night, writing, "This team has been through a lot this year and even during this race! Congrats to Dallas and team on this historic win! Well deserved."

The victory came just over one week after Seavey made headlines for killing a moose that he says "became entangled with" his dogs on the trail, per a previous statement from The Iditarod.

According to the Iditarod's statement on March 6, Seavey was penalized for failing to properly gut the moose after its death. The race's official rules state that mushers "must gut the animal and report the incident to a race official at the next checkpoint" in the event that an animal "is killed in defense of life or property."

Related: 5-time Iditarod Champion Dallas Seavey Shoots and Guts Moose That Injured His Dog During Race

Per race rules, "Following teams must help gut the animal when possible," and "no teams may pass until the animal has been gutted and the musher killing the animal has proceeded."

Seavey said he did the "best I could" after killing the moose.

"It fell on my sled, it was sprawled on the trail," Seavey told an Iditarod Insider television crew, per the Associated Press. "I gutted it the best I could, but it was ugly."

Race officials ultimately determined that "the animal was not sufficiently gutted by the musher," citing the official "definition" of gutting as "taking out the intestines and other internal organs of (a fish or other animal) before cooking it."

Seavey was handed a two-hour penalty, but managed to make up that time to win the race.

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In addition to the record win, Seavey was named the recipient of the race's GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award and the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award. The halfway award honors the late “Mother of the Iditarod,” Dorothy G. Page, per a statement from the race.

Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said, “Dallas has proven his ability to overcome adversity on multiple occasions and this historic win is the embodiment of his professionalism, strength and full exemplary dog care,” in a statement on Tuesday.

In 2012, Seavey became the youngest musher to win the race at age 25, the race said in its press release. He has completed the race 13 times, with 11 finishes in the top 10.

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