In a submission some racing officials and competitors may find ironic, racer David Estok sent in a photo of two donkeys, and a note:

“I named these two after racers who deserve the title. Let me introduce everyone to Mladin & Stoner, the asses. Their residence is Samsula, Florida. Thanks for the opportunity to make them famous.”

Saul Jacobs sent in a photo, and a note:

“This Troy Lee. It should be obvious who he is named after, LOL. His human is Kaitlyn Jacobs of Los Gatos, California.”

Dave Gasser submitted a photo and this note:

“Hi, my name is Dave Gasser and I live in Canton, Ohio. This is Tiller (named after one of my favorite motorcycles, Suzuki’s TL1000R). She also responds to ‘TT,’ which can also be homage to the Isle of Man races.”

Henry Madsen (CCS Florida #396) and Laurie Madsen of Jacksonville, Florida submitted a photo of Peppy The Dog, along with a note:

“Peppy at Daytona for the October, 2009 Race Of Champions on the old bike. He’s been to many racetracks, Daytona, Roebling, Jennings GP, etc. We like our Race Schnoodle!”

A Note From The Editor:

This concludes the feature that started out being for “Pets Named After Famous Racers” and ended up with readers submitting photos of pets named after all sorts of people and things. Most of the submissions were serious and heartfelt. A few were not, including what may or may not have been fair commentary on specific famous racers, illustrated by using a tortoise and the donkeys.

It’s obvious that most of the people who sent in photos love their pets and their sport, sincerely naming their pets after their favorite famous motorcycle road racers.

The idea for the feature started several years ago when I was sharing a garage at Willow Springs Raceway with fellow racer Wes Totsubo, who had named his dog Rossi; unfortunately, Rossi (Totsubo) died before he could be included in this feature, leaving his human heartbroken.

Here’s to Wes and his dog Rossi, and to all the other pets people have lovingly named after their favorite famous motorcycle road racers. May the pets live long and bring their humans much joy during their life–and in memory after they’re gone.

John Ulrich Lake Elsinore, California December 31st, 2013