The Origin of Mongo, the dog on Jimmy Spencer's car - 2003 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 (Spring) 

I've always wondered back in 2003 why all of a sudden Darrell Waltrip and the NASCAR on FOX team started calling the Sirius dog on the hood of Jimmy Spencer's car 'Mongo.' Well, as seen in the Bud Pole Qualifying show for the 2003 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 spring race, DW arbitrarily named the dog 'Mongo' because, to him, the dog (and Spencer) reminds him of Mongo, the character from the comedy film 'Blazing Saddles.'
Once Spencer heard DW's case, he loved the name. It was called Mongo for the rest of the year. Even the NBC crew called it Mongo. Unfortunately, Mongo was let go at the end of the season as Sirius did not continue its sponsorship for the #7 Ultra Motorsports team.
I chronicle the qualifying session and Jimmy's race. Jimmy started 5th and ran up front until he had a loose wheel. Ironic that just before the unscheduled pit stop, DW said that 99 out of 100 times that a vibration after a pit stop is due to brakes. However, it was the 1 out of 100 times that it was a loose wheel. Thanks to a timely caution flag, Spencer got back on the lead lap and finished 7th. There were numerous mentions of 'Mongo' in this race. That would continue for the rest of the 2003 season.
Qualifying uploaded by Dave W. Video is for awareness purposes only. All credit to NASCAR and FOX.