Cannonball Charlie, who tied for second in the 2022 Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals and was third in the 2023 running, finally won the elusive title of Fastest Wiener In the West after scoring a smashing victory in the 27th running of the Wiener Nationals on Saturday night at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California.
Owned by Victoria Cortez of Fullerton, Cannonball Charlie was fastest from a group of more than one hundred dachshunds that competed in the country’s most famous race for weenie dogs. After winning his trial heat, Cannonball Charlie defeated nine other doxies by the length of his long, low powerful sausage-like body.
“He’s been so close the past two years, but he finally got it done,” Victoria said. “I knew he could do it. He just goes crazy when he sees his favorite ball. He did it. He won.”
Cannonball Charlie won the golden championship jacket, a crystal trophy, a $1,000 cash prize, and a red and yellow doghouse in the shape of a Wienerschnitzel restaurant. He’ll certainly be living it up in style in his new doghouse.
In a too close to call finish for second, the placing judges of the race declared a tie for second place between Amber Garcia’s Okja of Tustin and Dan Clifford’s Sonny of Tustin.
“Sonny has never raced before until tonight,” his owner said. “We were shocked that he did so well.”
The second-place finishers each won a $300 cash prize and finalist trophies.
With a full house of wieners -a record in the event’s history – the big winners were the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, a non-kill shelter in Seal Beach, as the Wiener Nationals raises funds for this great organization. Total attendance for the event was around 7,500.
Other finalists in the race were Chelsey Lunney’s Clyde from Riverside; Kimberly Rosas’ Avi from La Habra; Ariana Gonzalez’ Burr from Cypress; Cynthia and Daniel Comer’s Odin Van Nosey from Spring Valley; Denise Miesner’s Ezri from San Diego; Alyssa Lucas’ Bean from Henderson, Nevada; and Sydney Nash’s Goose from W. Hollywood. Shannon Sackley’s Frankie won the Diaper Dash for puppies 11-months of younger.
With a full house of wieners -a record number for this event – the big winners were the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, a non-kill shelter in Seal Beach. Since 1996, the Wiener Nationals has helped raise over $300,000 for the SBACC. Total attendance for the event was around 7,500, which is a season high for Los Alamitos Race Course. Sign-ups for the 2025 Wiener Nationals has already begun at LosAlamitos.com or interested doxie owners can e-mail larace@losalamitos.com for more information.
