Joey Chestnut consumed 57 hot dogs and buns in a five-minute exhibition at Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, Texas on July 4th.
That was one shy of winning the men’s 10-minute Nathan’s hot dog eating contest in Coney Island, from which Chestnut was banned this year.
Pat Bertoletti won the mustard belt earlier in the day at Nathan’s after eating 58 hot dogs. He is one of four competitors to eat more than 50 hot dogs this year, something no one managed last year when Chestnut won his 16th title with 62 hot dogs.
“They did a great job!” Chestnut told USA TODAY Sports in a text message. “Much better than last year. I’m really happy for the Pats.”
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While preparing for the El Paso show, Chestnut, 40, set a goal of eating more hot dogs and buns in five minutes than the winner at Nathan’s could eat in 10 minutes.
“It would be great to do that,” said Chestnut, who set a Nathan’s record in 2021 with 76 hot dogs and buns.
Chestnut was barred from participating in this year’s contest because of its sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods. George Shea of Major League Eating, which runs the contest for Nathan’s, said the company has released a plant-based hot dog and that Nathan’s viewed Chestnut’s partnership with Impossible Foods as a conflict of interest.
While Chestnut’s fans were deprived of the opportunity to see his performance during the ESPN broadcast, his performance from the Army base was streamed live on his YouTube page and watched by approximately 19,000 people, as he competed against four other soldiers, who ate a combined total of 49 hot dogs and buns.
“There’s definitely a lot of pain, a little bit of sadness as well,” Chestnut told USA Today Sports last week about being banned by Nathans.
But he said that doesn’t compare to what he endured in 2022, when he competed with a broken leg less than three weeks after his mother died.
“This time is really bad, but it’s not as bad as it was back then,” Chestnut said. “I was able to get through that, get through the losing year (to Matt Stonie in 2015) and come back stronger. I’m just going to get through this and see what happens.”
