Yesterday, the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest went down at Coney Island in New York . . . and once again, JOEY CHESTNUT won.
He downed 72 hot dogs in 10 minutes, which was enough to break the previous record of 70 that he set LAST year. This is his 10th win in 11 years.
Believe it or not, it's been over a decade since the skinny kid TAKERU KOBAYASHI dominated the contest. Joey beat him in 2007 and he's been almost unstoppable ever since.
His only loss came in 2015, when he came in second behind Matt Stonie.
Kobayashi hasn't competed since 2009 because of some sort of contract dispute with 'Major League Eating.' The animosity between them is so intense that Nathan's removed him from their "Wall of Fame" in 2011, despite the fact that he won six straight years, and is basically responsible for making the event a 'thing.'
Kobayashi is still doing other eating competitions, and his personal record is 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes . . . three less than Joey's new record.
Photo courtesy of usatoday.com