Joey Chestnut Smashes 57 Hot Dogs In 5 Minutes, Raises $106K For Military Families

While the amateurs in Coney Island were competing in the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Joey Chestnut was in Texas demonstrating how it's really done.

During a special Fourth of July hot dog eating contest against soldiers at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Chestnut smashed 57 hot dogs in just five minutes. For comparison, Patrick Bertoletti — the winner of this year's Nathan's contest — ate 58 dogs in 10 minutes.

"Those guys did great!" Chestnut told USA TODAY. "A lot better than last year. I’m really happy for Pat."

Chestnut has been competing in the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest since 2005 and hadn’t lost since 2015. In 2021, he set the current record of 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes. But organizers of the Nathan's event barred Chestnut from competing in 2024 due to a sponsorship conflict, which Chestnut said involved a deal with plant-based hot dog company Impossible Foods.

So Fort Bliss took this opportunity to invite Joey Jaws to join their "Pop Goes the Fort" July Fourth celebration instead. And Chestnut was happy to accept — challenging them to present "four of their finest soldiers" to compete against him. The four servicemen combined to eat 49 hot dogs.

Chestnut live-streamed the event on his YouTube channel, and it drew about 19,000 viewers, according to USA TODAY.

In 2021, Joey Chestnut set the current record of 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

(Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In addition to perfectly dunking on Nathan's, the world's greatest competitive eater also helped raise $106,000 for military families at the event, as Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness presented Operation Homefront with a check.

Major League Eating is hoping to work things out so that Chestnut can compete in 2025.

"I feel bullied," the 40-year-old said. "If I’m ever going to work with them [Nathan's] again, they’re going to have to apologize."