Extreme speed, crashes, high winds all part of 50th Alcan 200

The 50th annual Alcan 200 Snowmachine Road Rally went off over the weekend with the usual extreme speeds, tough weather conditions, crashes and mishaps associated with the event.

The race runs north on the Haines Road from the B.C.-Alaska border to Dezadeash Lake in southwest Yukon and then back again. The highway is closed to all traffic for safety reasons.

The roaring engines and smell of high octanegas may not be foreveryone, but participants and fans say they love the race.

Diana Lapham, who has been volunteering for the past 27 years, said she thinks it has the potential to become a much bigger event, but others are leery.

"Some of these guys want to keep it their best kept secret type thing because, you know, it's their race and when they're here, when everybody's here, it's like a great big family reunion again, you know, and it's a wonderful weekend," said Lapham.

"We just have a great time."

Racer Donna Chambers of Whitehorse, waiting around for the race to start Saturday morning, said this is her third race.

"And I'm nervous, so nervous, I'm always nervous, and then I'll be okay once I get going, but it's just the start," said Chambers.

Last year's winner, Scott Smeetonof Whitehorse, was back again this year using a more powerful machine.

Another standout was John Spencer. He wasone of the drivers in the first race. He was 18 then.

"Wild and crazy, I rode wide open everywhere I went, all the time, and didn't care what happened," Spencersaid.

"Now when I'm older I know better." he said.

Chambers finished, but 14 of the 47 drivers did not because of mechanical problems and crashes.

Smeeton was the leader after the first half of the race and just minutes away from the finish line when his machine broke down. Spencer was part of a three machine collision early on and was also forced to drop out.

Haines, Alaska, resident Chris Brooks went on to win for the fourth time covering the roughly 250 kilometre course in less than an hour and a half.The fastest drivers hit speeds of over 200 km/h during the race.

Brooks said some parts were a wild ride this year.

"Really windy on the pass and very, very sketchy, lots of pavement, getting blown around really bad. A couple of times getting pushed off the road, crashing into snow banks," said Brooks.