The 2011 Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest goes down at 9am pacific on Monday July 4 with Bay Area native San Jose native Joey Chestnut looking to gobble down another 55+ hot dogs and secure his fifth straight mustard belt. Chestnut is two consecutive victories away from matching Takeru Kobayashi's record of six consecutive victories in the world famous hot dog eating contest.
Chestnut first jumped in the spotlight when he stunned the multi-time champion Kobayashi at the 2007 Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Prior to that Chestnut finished third his rookie year with an unexpected 32 hot dogs and buns (HDBs). He followed that up in 2006 with 52 HDBs but lost by 1 3/4 HDBs to Kobayashi. In 2007, Kobayashi finally succumbed to the rising force of Joey "Jaws" Chestnut. On July 4, 2007, Chestnut did America proud as he brought the mustard belt back to the United States. He consumed 66 hot dogs in twelve minutes to set a new world record and defeat Kobayashi by three HDBs. Here is a two-part video of that great day in American sports:
Chestnut has gone on to win three more titles, including an overtime victory in 2009 in which he defeated Kobayashi by consuming five hot dogs in a faster time. Here are some highlights of Chestnut's victories in 2008, 2009, and 2010:
2008
2009
2010