Legendary Eater Joey Chestnut Dominates Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, Wins 11th Crown
Joey Chestnut has elevated his eating dominance to legendary status with an 11th win in the past 12 years by clinching the 2018 Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest title in the 4th of July. He won this year's championship by 11 hot dogs and buns, to set a new record of 74.
The 2018 hot dog eating title is also his third straight championship, starting a new streak that has only been broken once over the past 12 years. The 34-year old consumed 74 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes on Coney Island, setting a new world record on the way to out-eating the rest of the competition in this Independence Day tradition.
"Oh my God, I found a vicious rhythm," Chestnut said about his win, as quoted by 247 Sports. "The judges around me were all screwed up. They couldn't see what number I was on. I just had to ignore that and just keep eating," he added, referring to the small controversy that came out of this win.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Judges first counted 64 hot dogs for Chestnut, enough to put him over second placer Carmen Cincotti who devoured 63, but way short of Chestnut's own count of 74. A lengthy review would then show that the counters missed an entire plate that the Kentucky native inhaled hot dogs out of, and that the final count was, indeed, a record-breaking 74, according to Yahoo Sports.
"The only person to eat that much other than me is Kobayashi, and he did amazing. It was a great crowd and a beautiful day. ... I was feeling good today," he added, referring to the hot sweltering day on Coney Island as the country celebrated Independence Day.
Chestnut first broke the world record with 66 hot dogs and buns to beat then six-time defending champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan back in 2007. Since then, he has gone on to dominate 11 out of the last 12 contests, missing just one time in 2015.
