Cory Davis of Soldotna and Dusty VanMeter of Kasilof both boosted their chances of finishing high in the 2017 Iron Dog snowmachine race Thursday with strong runs out of Nome.

Davis and teammate Ryan Simons of Alberta checked out of Nome, Thursday at 8 a.m. behind race leaders Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad, both of Wasilla. Davis and Simons overtook the leaders checked into Kaltag at 4:03 p.m., just 14 minutes after new leaders Tyson Johnson of Eagle River and Tyler Aklestad of Palmer.

Meanwhile, VanMeter and teammate Chad Gueco of Wasilla arrived in Kaltag at 5:49 p.m. running third overall.

The top nine teams in the race all got into Kaltag by Thursday night and are resting on their mandatory 10-hour layover.