Speaking to Iditarod Insider during a rest in Koyuk ... a few minutes before Holmes arrived to White Mountain. Three mushers left the race Wednesday, though for different reasons.

“I think the combination of those things, having the discipline to let the race go away from me early on,” Holmes told an interviewer from Iditarod Insider in White Mountain on Thursday.

The next musher expected to come in is veteran Nic Petit, a former Rookie of the Year who left White Mountain at 3:28 a.m. Saturday. Petit has racked up six top-10s in 13 starts in his Iditarod ...

Rob Urbach, Iditarod’s CEO, said that Holmes has an especially strong bond with his team. In White Mountain, Holmes laid with his dogs in a bed of straw — what he calls a “cuddle puddle.” ...

Matt Hall and Jessie Holmes led the Iditarod field on Wednesday ... From there, only two checkpoints remain – White Mountain and Safety – before the final push to Nome.

Wisconsin musher Quince Mountain was pulled from the Iditarod on March 12, because he lagged too far behind leaders. He completed the race anyway, on his own, unofficially and unsupported.

"I think the combination of those things, having the discipline to let the race go away from me early on," Holmes told an interviewer from Iditarod Insider in White Mountain on Thursday.