At another event on Thursday, Joey Chestnut nearly matched the 58 hot dogs consumed by the winner of a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest — but in half the time.
While the annual Fourth of July tradition took place in Coney Island without the competitive eating heavyweight, Chestnut took part in an exhibition eating contest at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where he downed 57 hot dogs in just five minutes.
The Nathan’s contest sees participants eat the most hot dogs in 10 minutes, but Chestnut has been banned from taking part in this year’s event.
This comes after a dispute erupted between Chestnut and event organizers over his sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, the company that makes plant-based hot dogs, as first reported by The Washington Post.
According to the Associated Press, Chestnut, who was kicked out of the Brooklyn event, instead attended “Pop Goes the Fort” with four other soldiers and helped raise $106,000 for military families, with Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness presenting a check to Operation Homefront.
During the Texas event, the four service members ate a combined 49 hot dogs.
Pat Bertoletti won this year’s Nathan’s tournament, marking the first time since 2015 that a player other than Chestnut has won.
“Those guys did a great job!” Chesnut told USA Today:“Much better than last year, which is really good for Pat.”
Chestnut’s competition was not nationally broadcast, but was streamed live on YouTube and attracted an audience of 19,000, according to USA Today.
The 40-year-old competitive eater is considered one of the best in the world, holding the world record of 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes at Nathan’s in 2021.
Nathan’s and Major League Eating, which sanction the Coney Island event, viewed Chestnut’s contract with Impossible Foods as a conflict of interest and banned him from participating in the event.
Despite calls from both sides, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, for reconciliation, Chesnut did not attend this year’s celebrations in New York.
