Wasilla, Alaska - The 2024 Iditarod race drama continues as officials imposed a two-hour time penalty on musher Dallas Seavey for not properly gutting the moose he killed during the dog sled race.

The five-time Iditarod champion killed a moose early Monday morning after it became entangled with his dog team.

Per race rules, if a musher kills a large game animal during the race, they are required to gut the animal properly and report it to officials at the next checkpoint.

As the Iditarod Trail Committee defines it, gutting requires taking out the intestines and other internal organs of the animal.

The race marshal's investigation into the incident determined "that the animal was not sufficiently gutted by the musher." Seavey spent about ten minutes at the kill site before mushing another 11 miles and camping for a three-hour layover.

Race rules allow race officials to issue time penalties of up to eight hours for each rule broken when such infringements give a musher a competitive advantage.

Per the ruling committees' statement, Seavey's time penalty will be added to his mandatory 24-hour layover.

Seavey, who is currently leading the race, made it to the halfway point at Cripple Checkpoint by 8:09 PM Wednesday with 15 dogs in harness, per an Iditarod press release.

Seavey's team said on Facebook that he's currently 70 miles ahead of the closest competitor. His dog Faloo, who was injured in the moose encounter, is recovering well.

If Dallas Seavey crosses the finish line in Nome first, he will have the most Iditarod wins ever with six.