In the same way that Joars choice to go to Iditarod may have cost him the race, Nic’s mistake on the trail may have cost him the race.
The question is does J know that Nic made that mistake? Or is the trail sufficiently icy/Blown over that The lack of tracks has no meaning to him? ( right up to when he arrives in Koyuk and he’s told he’s in the lead )
That’s the video I want to see