{"id":1311,"date":"2017-07-20T23:10:18","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T23:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/pets\/aaaand-away-they-g-hey-the-other-way-wienerschnitzel-wiener-nationals-inch-up-to-the-starting-gate\/"},"modified":"2017-07-20T23:10:18","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T23:10:18","slug":"aaaand-away-they-g-hey-the-other-way-wienerschnitzel-wiener-nationals-inch-up-to-the-starting-gate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/pets\/aaaand-away-they-g-hey-the-other-way-wienerschnitzel-wiener-nationals-inch-up-to-the-starting-gate","title":{"rendered":"Aaaand, Away They G\u2014Hey\u2014the Other Way! Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals Inch Up to the Starting Gate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cDear Wiener Nationals Nominating Committee,\u201d began Lady Bug \u201cThe Bug\u201d O\u2019Neil\u2019s application to enter the\u00a022nd<\/sup>\u00a0annual Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals<\/a>\u00a0to be held Saturday, July 22, at the Los Alamitos Race Course.<\/p>\n

The event is sponsored by the Wienerschnitzel hot dog chain and benefits the pets at the Seal Beach Animal Care Center<\/a> (SBACC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a home for stray animals in the Orange County area. Since 1996, the Nationals have helped raise more than $250,000 for the Care Center. Last year\u2019s event raised $18,000 through ticket and merchandise sales on the day of the event.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Tracey McCarthy and Dash pose with The Delicious One, Wienerschnitzel\u2019s official mascot, at the July 17 practice session. Photos by Kate Karp.<\/i> <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve grown from struggling to get 20 to the event to getting 150 entries!\u201d said Orlando Gutierrez, Marketing Director for the racetrack. \u201cOn Saturday, we\u2019re going to have over 100 dachshunds racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ditto <\/p>\n

Melissa Tuchalski (left) has been coming to the Wiener Nationals since she was in kindergarten. \u201cI told my parents that I was getting a dachshund, and I did,\u201d she said.<\/i> <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Ditto<\/i><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Tuchalski\u2019s extended family mugs for the camera along with Ditto, a red doxie, and Havoc, a black-and-tan dapple.<\/i> <\/p>\n

The event starts at 6:30PM and consists of a qualifier, 10 heats\u2014hopefully in just the racetrack sense, the Big\/Little Race in which the bratwursts mix it up with the cocktail frankies, and the Wiener Nationals Championship, with cash prizes, trophies and other treats. Last year\u2019s grand champion, Julie Woods\u2019s Darcy of the Bankers Hill neighborhood in San Diego, took home $1,000 in cash prizes, a doghouse in the shape of a classic A-Frame Wienerschnitzel restaurant, and a championship trophy and an honorary trophy blanket.<\/p>\n