Roller Coaster Gets Stuck Upside Down, Woman Melts Down On Plane, Miki Sudo Wins Another Belt, Proper Hot Dog Toppings & Celebrating America

Happy birthday, America!

I hope you're all doing the right thing today and partying your face off to celebrate the greatest country on earth.

I mean, someone at the White House certainly is.

I kid, I kid.

Today was almost a sad day, though. We almost didn't get to watch American hero Joey Chestnut claim his 16th Mustard Belt in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest!

The competition was under lightning delay for two hours as a huge rainstorm swept over Coney Island.

Reports circulated the contest would be canceled. But alas, they finally gave the people what they wanted: Joey Jaws wins again with 62 hot dogs.

That's 17,980 calories — in case you were feeling guilty about your own 4th of July feast.

Personally, I think the rain would have made the contest easier. You don't have to dunk your buns in the water if you're already sitting in a torrential downpour!

Speaking of dunking your buns in the water, I am headed to the beach today.

No lightning delay here. It's 97 degrees in the St. Pete sector of the Free State of Florida, and my family and I are ready to chug some non-Bud Lights and scream Toby Keith songs from the rooftops.

But in the meantime, it is my patriotic duty to bring you Nightcaps.

I trust you've already read the OutKick's handy Official 4th of July Party Guide. You're already decked out in red, white and booze, stuffed full of grilled meats, and you've probably already cycled through your America-themed playlist a few times.

For those of you who are coherent enough to read this, I'm proud of you.

This is your reminder to relax for a bit, catch your second wind and reach in the cooler for another cold one.

It's good to be in the U-S-of-A.

Woman Melts Down Over Imaginary Airplane Passenger

On our way from Tennessee to Florida on Friday, my husband and I decided to go through Alabama. Usually, this is a solid strategy. Because while the distance is a little longer, you don't have to spend two hours at a dead stop on I-75 trying to fight your way through Atlanta.

But the strategy backfired this time. Traffic was still a nightmare, and our 10-hour drive actually took 13 hours.

The trip was a solid reminder that I hate everything about Alabama — not just the football team.

But honestly, I should have expected some delays. AAA predicted 51 million Americans would travel (either by plane or car) between Friday and Monday this past weekend.

And as expected, Friday was an absolute sh-tshow at the airports.

On June 30, the TSA screened a whopping 2,883,595 passengers at airports across the country — the highest number ever recorded on a single day.

And with that many people flying the not-so-friendly skies, you know somebody's going viral.

Enter this lady flying out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Well, she was flying out. Until she was suddenly spooked by a mysterious being at the back of the plane.

"I'm telling you, I'm getting the f-ck off and there's a reason why I'm getting the f-ck off and everyone can either believe it or they can not believe it," the woman yelled.

"I don't give two f-cks, but I am telling you right now — that motherf-cker back there is NOT real."

She runs to the front of the plane and points at the imaginary assailant in the back. But no one can see what the heck she's talking about. Is it a ghost? A hijacker hiding in the lavatory? An imaginary friend?

"You can sit on this plane and you can die with them or not. I'm not going to," she said before exiting the plane.

This lady probably just hit the 4th of July tequila stash a little early.

But I think I speak for everyone who ever saw Final Destination when I say this would have scared the crap out of me.

Did she have a premonition? And am I about to plummet to my death because I didn't heed her warnings?

Fortunately, the plane did not crash. But it did arrive three hours late thanks to ol' girl.

Either way, my 13-hour drive suddenly doesn't seem too bad.

Wisconsin Roller Coaster Gets Stuck Upside Down

While I'm thinking about Final Destination (the third installment, to be exact), check out this nightmare scenario at the Forest County Festival in Wisconsin.

A mechanical failure left eight people stranded upside down on a roller coaster called the Fireball.

And you though the liquid Fireball made you puke.

But they weren't just stuck upside down. They were stuck upside down for FOUR HOURS. And that's partly because the closest fire department with an aerial lift was 40 minutes away.

Back in my young and reckless days, I, too, used to ride rides at county fairs. The Tilt-A-Whirl, The Zipper, The Gravitron thing that stuck you to the wall and spun you around like the inside of a washing machine. If it flipped, zoomed, whipped, twirled, jolted — I was all about it.

But now I'm old and wise enough to know those things are pulled around from town to town on trucks, set up by disgruntled carnies who may or may not be sober and rarely inspected by a professional.

And that's how you end up hanging upside down like a vampire bat, puking up funnel cake, waiting for a firefighter three counties away to come pluck you out of the sky.

Don't get me wrong: I still love theme park rides. But I stick to the ones in actual theme parks.

Miki Sudo is the Hot Dog Queen.

Move aside, Masters. Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is a tradition unlike any other.

Just as we always start Thanksgiving by watching the Macy's Parade, it truly wouldn't be Independence Day without cheering on a bunch of gluttons stuffing their faces with dozens of all-beef hot dogs.

Check out the women's winner — Miki Sudo — as she puts down 39.5 hot dogs in just 10 minutes.

When you think of competitive eating, you probably think of Joey Chestnut. But Miki Sudo is a champion in her own right.

Sudo first competed in the Nathan's contest in 2014 and she hasn't lost since. She took 2021 off to have a baby, but this year she collected her ninth Pink Mustard Belt.

Cool tidbit about Miki: Her husband is also an accomplished competitive eater.

Miki and Nick Wehry call themselves "The World's Hungriest Couple" and "The Power Couple of Competitive Eating."

And last week, TMZ asked them what we are all wondering: What's it like having two competitive eaters under the same roof — particularly, right after a competition?

"We force a lot of water, we stay away from each other," Nick said. "I don't know what's more unpleasant — our moods toward each other or the G.I. distress, but we do a good job of kind of avoiding both."

The bathroom situation alone would be brutal.

"I don't blame anybody for not wanting to be around me after I eat four dozen hot dogs and equally, I don't really feel like being around him after he competes in events," Miki told TMZ.

Silly Rabbit. Ketchup Is For Kids.

Notice the women's belt moniker is "pink mustard" — not ketchup. Because according the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, that is a thing), ketchup on hot dogs is only for kids.

"If you can vote, it's time for your taste buds to vote for a hot dog without ketchup," NHDSC president Eric Mittenthal told The New York Post. "The sweetness is just not the ideal match for a hot dog. As New Yorkers know, mustard, onions and sauerkraut are preferable toppings."

In my personal opinion, the top three specialty hot dog rankings:

I discovered the Sonoran Dog at Chase Field (home of the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks) in 2013, and I never looked back.

Dodger Dogs are also a popular choice, but we don't support the Dodgers around here.

If, for some reason, you insist on putting salty tomato sauce on a hot dog, though, Heinz answered the age-old question last week: Should ketchup be cold or room temperature?

And there you have it.

Happy 4th of July, OutKick fam.

One of the cool things about OutKick is we aren't afraid to celebrate the country we call home. I know I speak for everyone here when I say we value our freedom, and we're eternally grateful for those who fight to preserve it.

And that's why today is so important.

So I hate to pull a Joe Biden and walk off set in the middle of an interview. But that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm headed to the beach. Because there's fireworks that need watching and ice cold Miller Lite that needs drinking.

But I'll leave you with some screen grabs that will get you feeling patriotic AF.

OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m.

Follow me on Twitter at @TheAmberHarding or email me at Amber.Harding@OutKick.com.