EL PASO, Texas — Hot dog-eating champion Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is breaking tradition and celebrating the Fourth of July in El Paso his way: Challenging four soldiers at an army base to a hot dog-eating competition.
Instead of his usual contest in Brooklyn, Chestnut showcased his talents at the Pop Goes the Fort celebration at Fort Bliss to help raise money for military families. There, he beat his competitors by eating 57 hot dogs in five minutes while the four soldiers ate a combined total of 49.
While this may be Chestnut's first time in nearly two decades spending his Independence Day in the Lone Star State, this wasn't his first rodeo. Chestnut competed in his first Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest in 2005 and has not lost it since 2015. At last year's contest, Chestnut won first place and ate 62 hot dogs, beating the runner-up by 13 hot dogs.
The record for most hot dogs eaten was set by Chestnut with 76 franks eaten in 10 minutes at the 2021 competition.
Chestnut was initially disinvited from the annual competition due to a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a plant-based meat substitute company that is a rival brand of Nathan's Famous.
While Major League Eating, which organizes the contest, said Chestnut is not permanently banned, he said he would return to their competition without an apology.
Chestnut live-streamed the competition on his YouTube channel, unlike the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, which is broadcast live on ESPN. Impossible Foods promoted Chestnut's YouTube livestream by flying banners over Los Angeles and Miami.
The competition in El Paso began at 4 p.m. with a Q&A for the hot-dog-eating star afterward.