Joey Chestnut Reclaims Hot Dog-Eating Title, Breaks Record
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is back on top of the hot dog-eating world.
The San Jose, California, native who saw his string of eight straight titles at the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest snapped last year reclaimed the Mustard Belt by eating 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes Monday, a new record at the Coney Island competition.
Matt Stonie, last year's champion, finished second with 53.
CBS2's Steve Langford reported that Chestnut took a strong early lead, swallowing 15 hot dogs in just the first minute of the competition.
"Everything was amazing," Chestnut told ESPN. "I knew going into the contest my body was working, and Matt was great. I didn't know what he was up to. I caught myself actually looking at his numbers -- I shouldn't have done that. Yeah, it was great event. Great weather. The audience was amazing. And I'm just happy. I'm happy I came back stronger than ever."
Chestnut, 32, admitted he was motivated to find a new approach after losing to Stonie last year.
"He beat me last year," Chestnut said. "He woke the sleeping giant. And he made me go back to the drawing board and figure out my body again. And I did it."
Chestnut vowed to return in 2017 to try to defend his title.
Contest officials said Chestnut set a new record last month when he ate 73½ hot dogs and buns during a qualifying event.
Miki Sudo won her fourth consecutive women's title, eating 38½ hot dogs.
The competition began in the late 1970s when a public relations guy wondered if he could get in the papers by cooking up a hot dog-eating contest. They set up a card table out in front of Nathan's and asked people if they wanted to be in the contest.
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