TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — You know him from being a 16-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Conest winner, but this Memorial Day, Joey Chestnut was in Terre Haute to take on a different challenge.
Hundreds of residents packed into the Rural King parking lot to watch Chestnut crush his original record of eating 32 24-ounce bags of popcorn in 8 minutes. He ate 5 more bags to shatter the record.
It feels great to break the record”, Chestnut said. “The audience was pushing me, the popcorn was tasty, the weather was good, so many good things came together, and I was able to crush it.”
Chestnut is a current Indiana resident and said the local audience cheering him on gave him the boost he needed.
“I moved to Indiana four years ago and it’s so great to do a contest in front of people in Indiana”, Chestnut said. “The people are awesome, Hoosier hospitality is the best thing in the world.”
While awaiting Chestnut’s record attempt, Rural King sponsored a number of eating competitions for residents to participate in. One couple, Dustin and Ellen Jorgensen, each won their respective heat.
“They gave us a choice of five different pickled items, they were behind a box”, Ellen Jorgensen said. “We had to sip through a straw and figure out which ones lined up with which ones. It was a lot of fun.”
Chestnut said he’s not sure where he will be eating next, but he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
“When I got into competitive eating, I never imagined I would be doing it for 20 years”, Chestnut said. “I got on this crazy wave, and I’ve ridden it a long way. I don’t know where it’s going to take me, but I’m going to have fun doing it.”
Chestnut did confirm he has plans to compete in a wing eating contest in New York soon and will be eating hot dogs on the Fourth of July.
