CIRCLE, Alaska There's an $8,000 US difference between second and third places on the Yukon Quest.

It's a gap that Shallow Bay, Yukon-area musher Gerry Willomitzer would like to avoid.

'I wouldn't mind coming in second, I can tell you that,' said Willomitzer.

The new prize money distribution introduced by the Yukon Quest for 2007 will see the winner of the race take $40,000 US from the purse.

The second finish line-crosser will take home $30,000, while the third place team gets $22,000.

And now the race appears to be on to fill those two positions.

Race officials are speculating that frontrunner Lance Mackey could be arriving at the Fairbanks finish line as early as Tuesday morning.

Willomitzer said his travelling pack, which also included William Kleedehn and Hans Gatt, have stopped thinking about Mackey.

'He's got a pretty big lead and he's not going to let it go,' Willomitzer said. 'There's nobody in our group that's talking about Lance and trying to close in.'

At this point, Gatt is holding second place with a four-hour lead over the other two teams.

Gatt wouldn't say he was racing for second, shrugging and stating, 'Anybody's chance, I guess.'

He further added he isn't trying to sneak or pull ahead of anyone.

But since Dawson City, Gatt has been 'cutting a little rest.' Based solely on run times between checkpoints, he is now at almost the exact same speed as Mackey, and doing it with nine dogs.

Gatt said Mackey's position on the trail is the least of his worries. He is focused on his dog team, which has been struggling with injuries the entire race.

'I just want to get to Fairbanks,' he said. Willomitzer and Kleedehn continue to travel together, though.

They left Circle City two minutes apart on Sunday afternoon and arrived two minutes apart in Central at approximately 6:30 this morning.

'You always wonder where friendship ends and where competition starts in these situations,' said Willomitzer.

Kleedehn alluded to the possibility of discussing the order the teams would cross the finish line in Fairbanks, saying it would keep the mushers from racing the dogs hard in the temperatures that have been hovering well-below -40 C for the last two days.

But Willomitzer said there have been no discussions on the trail.

'We're trying to figure out who's got what kind of team,' he said. 'It's too early to think about money and all that. A lot of things can happen. Teams might not make it.'

Kleedehn and Willomitzer both are still travelling with 10 dogs.

Kleedehn said the travelling together has to do with dog injuries and care that have been occurring since the halfway mark in Dawson. When those kinds of things happen, the race has to be put on hold, he said.

'It's mostly just weather and trail conditions,' he said.

But by Circle, Kleedehn was also thinking ahead to the 1,113-metre Eagle Summit that teams cross outside of Central on the way into the Mile 101 dog drop.

The veteran musher is down to just one leader, and is concerned the dog may not want to 'march over the hill.'

He added, though, he is glad to be travelling with Willomitzer, because if something happened on the mountain, he knew someone wouldn't be too far behind.

Though Mackey has an approximately seven-hour lead over his closest competitors, he said he still knows they're there.

'I'm still looking over my shoulder,' he said. 'I have no real idea what's going on behind me. That's kind of the disadvantage of being out in front.'

But the leader added he hasn't seen much of anyone on the trail since he left Scroggie Creek last Tuesday.

'There's no limitations to what they are able to do,' he said of his team. 'They are as fast at any given time as I need them to be.'

There's still trail left leading into Fairbanks, Mackey added.

'There's plenty of room for errors,' he said. 'I'm not going to get too confident quite yet. It's a dog race. Anything can happen.'

Mackey arrived into the Mile 101 dog drop at 6:26 this morning after making a five-hour and four-minute run from Central, Alaska.

Gatt arrived into the Central checkpoint at 2:20 a.m., an hour after Mackey had already left.

Kleedehn and Willomitzer reached the stop four hours later.

Hugh Neff, Sebastian Schnuelle and Aaron Burmeister decided to wait out the cold in Circle and left the checkpoint to head into Central this morning.

Michelle Phillips, however, decided not to wait out the night and departed at around 1:33 a.m. It has placed her in fifth position heading into Central.