NASCAR drivers reveal reasons behind bringing their pets to every race

A number of NASCAR Cup Series drivers might have said to have that dawg in them, but a surprising number also have their dogs with them more often than you'd think.

A number of drivers, including Shane van Gisburgen, Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez have spoken about how and why they often travel between races with four-legged friends in tow.

The LA Times ran a feature on the dog days of the Cup Series this week, revealing the lengths that Van Gisburgen went to in order to bring his 130lb Rhodesian Ridgeback 'Ronald' over to the US from Australia.

The Aussie and his girlfriend Jessica Dane has a special crate build for the massive pooch to take the 21-hour flight to the US, with SVG saying: “You can’t get rid of a dog. He is part of our family.”

Animal-loving NASCAR drivers reveal track habits

Alex Bowman, who brings his dogs to the track, revealed that he began traveling with his dogs more often after his dog Roscoe died two years ago while he was away testing in Indianapolis, admitting: “I couldn’t be there. So that was pretty tough."

He added: “They’re not really near the track. They’re never in the pit area or in the garage. Things would have to go pretty wrong for that to happen.”

Daniel Suarez has ten dogs at home, all rescued from the streets, and also brings Emma, a four-pound Pomeranian, and Pepper, an 11-pound Manx cat, to around half of his races every year.

He told the newspaper: “The beautiful part about animals is that it doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the day you just had. They’re always there to give you a lot. We’re really lucky to have animals in our lives.”

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