Video: Baron winning the 1997 Wiener Nationals..
This was Baron's first Championship win. He would eventually win 3 more racing championships over his 4 year racing "career", during which he never lost or had a close race.
(The video below may take a minute to load, then will automatically start and re-run until you stop it. )
Background..
64 of 250+ dogs entered in the Wiener Nationals are selected to run in one of 8 qualification races, consisting of 8 dogs. Only the 8 dogs who win their qualifiers advance to the Championship final.
The first race in the video is the first qualifier that Baron ever ran. He ran so hard in this race that he ripped his racing bib off, ran on it the entire race, and won anyway. He didn't run straight because of the torn racing bib and also almost ran over a photographer close to the finish.
In the Championship final, he was pitted against the seven other qualification round winners including Peanut, who won the 1996 Wiener Nationals, the year before Baron started racing. The track announcer mentions that although Baron was the fast qualifier, Peanut was considered the favorite before the race. That was the last time Baron wasn't favored. The track eventually changed the rules to try to equalize the other dogs, and eventually asked us to retire Baron after he continued to win anyway.