Chestnut Claims 17th Nathan's Title, Eyes 250-Hot-Dog Mark on July 4
Joey Chestnut won his 17th Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest title in 2025, consuming 70½ hot dogs and buns to reclaim the Mustard Yellow Belt after a one-year absence. He is scheduled to compete again on Saturday, July 4, 2025 - the United States' 250th anniversary - with the stated aim of matching that milestone number. A 18th championship would come in 19 career appearances at the Coney Island, New York event.
Chestnut was barred from the 2024 contest after signing a sponsorship agreement with a competing brand, handing that year's title to another competitor by default rather than by defeat on the competition floor. Following a protracted dispute with Major League Eating, the sport's governing body, he was reinstated with weeks to spare before the 2025 event. "It was great. The audience is awesome, it's electric. It's good to be back after mending some fences," Chestnut said of his 2025 return. His eligibility for Saturday's contest had also been briefly in question after he pleaded guilty in April to a battery charge stemming from an incident at an Indiana bar. He is serving 180 days of probation and was granted permission to travel for the event. armidale races
Chestnut's dominance at Nathan's dates to 2007, when he defeated then-reigning champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan to end Kobayashi's six-consecutive-title run. The two competed closely over the following years, including a tiebreaking eat-off in 2008 that Chestnut won. After Kobayashi was banned from the event in 2010, Chestnut won every contest through 2014. He suffered his only defeat of that era in 2015, losing to Matt Stonie, before winning eight straight titles. His all-time single-contest record stands at 76 hot dogs and buns, set in 2021, surpassing his own marks of 75 set in 2020 and 74 set in 2018. A separate notable moment came in 2022 when a protester disrupted his eating mid-contest; Chestnut physically subdued the individual and completed the event, finishing with 63 hot dogs and buns.
Chestnut has framed the annual contest as secondary to the civic occasion surrounding it. "It's never about me," he said in May 2025. "It's not even about the hot dogs. It's the Fourth of July. It's an eating contest, but really, it's a Fourth of July celebration, it's a celebration in New York." Should he win Saturday, Chestnut would hold 18 Mustard Yellow Belts across 19 appearances, further extending a record of competitive longevity with no direct parallel in the sport.
