Joey Chestnut eats 57 hot dogs in alternate eating contest on Fourth of July

Joey Chestnut did not eat his hot dogs on Coney Island in 2024. However, he did put them away in a separate contest on the Fourth of July this year with his total now going official.

At ‘Pop Goes the Fort’ at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Chestnut ate 57 hot dogs in the five-minute contest. He did so against soldiers rather than against his normal competition from Major League Eating.

Chestnut, the world’s greatest eater, has routinely won title after title in Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. He has won that event 16 times since winning his first back in 2007 with two separate streaks of eight-straight belts. In those victories, he has eaten a total of 1,070 hot dogs, which averages out to nearly 67 per title-winning performance. That includes a record-setting 76 hot dogs back in 2021 which broke his own previous mark. He is most recently coming off a performance of 62 dogs in 2024.

However, a dispute between Chestnut and Nathan’s led to his removal from the field. That issue stems from a partnership that he has with Impossible Foods which, most notably, offers an alternative meat option. That deal led to his ban from this event which, unfortunately for everyone involved, they did not work out by today.

“I was gutted to learn from the media that after 19 years I’m banned from the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest,” Chestnut tweeted within a thread in response to his ban on June 11th. “I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title.”

By June 29th, though, Chestnut had already joined on for this separate contest against the four soldiers.

Chestnut putting away hot dogs has become quite the spectacle and tradition on this holiday. Thankfully for him and his fans that got to continue, albeit at a different place, with his latest number of franks.