Joey Chestnut nearly matched the 58 hot dogs devoured by the winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest – in half the time – at an alternate event Thursday.
While the annual Fourth of July tradition took place at Coney Island without the biggest name in the culinary competition, Chestnut entered a tasting contest at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and crushed 57 hot dogs in just five minutes.
Nathan’s contest allows contestants to eat as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes, but Chestnut was banned from this year’s event.
It follows a dispute between Chestnut and the event’s organizers — first reported by The Post — over the former’s sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, which launched a plant-based hot dog.
After being banned from the Brooklyn event, Chestnut instead participated in Pop Goes the Fort with four soldiers and helped raise $106,000 for military families, while Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness presented a check to Operation Homefront, according to the Associated Press.
At the Texas event, the four servicemen ate 49 hot dogs together.
Pat Bertoletti won this year’s Nathan contest, marking the first time since 2015 that someone other than Chestnut won.
“Those guys did a great job!” Chestnut told USA Today. “Much better than last year. I’m really happy for Pat.”
Although Chestnut’s competition was not broadcast on national television, it was streamed live on YouTube and drew 19,000 viewers, according to USA Today.
The 40-year-old competitive eater is considered one of the best in the world and holds the world record of devouring 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the 2021 Nathan’s competition.
Nathan’s and Major League Eating, which are licensing the Coney Island event, deemed Chestnut’s deal with Impossible Foods a conflict of interest and barred him from the event.
Despite calls for reconciliation between the two sides, including from New York Mayor Eric Adams, Chestnut has stayed away from this year’s festivities in the Big Apple.
News Source : nypost.com
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