Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest 2013 results: Joey Chestnut breaks record with 69 hot dogs

The 2013 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest took place at high noon on the Fourth of July and, as per usual, Joey Chestnut entered as a huge favorite to have the most hot dogs (and buns!) eaten when the results were tallied. The American eater didn’t disappoint his fans, either, as he consumed 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes to conquer the event for the seventh consecutive year.

Chestnut’s win broke the record he held with Takeru Kobayashi, as each had six total championships heading into Thursday’s event. He also broke his record of 68 hot dogs, too, after most recently resetting it at last year’s competition. The fact that he was able to reach 69 dogs was a surprise, too, as the odds had Chestnut eating 63.5 HDB (hot dogs + buns, for those not familiar with the sport’s technical terms).

Chestnut’s closest competition was Matt Stonie with 51 hot dogs, though the competition in general has had a bit of a drop off behind Chestnut ever since Kobayashi stopped participating due to a contract dispute with Major League Eating. Tim Janus, better known as Eater X, finished third with 50 hot dogs.

Chestnut entered the contest as the top-ranked eater in the world, according to MLE’s rankings, whereas Stonie was ranked fourth. The 21-year-old Stonie’s claims to fame include eating 5.5 pounds of birthday cake in 8 minutes and 59 seconds as well as eating 30 “slugburgers” at something called “The World Slugburger Eating Championship” last July.

Sonja Thomas, better known as the Black Widow, was able to hold off upstart “The Lovely” Juliet Lee in the women’s competition that was held earlier in the day. Thomas ate just shy of 37 hot dogs compared to Lee’s even 36, securing herself as the only women’s champion since the event was divided into separate divisions in 2011.

The result of the women’s competition was a bit disappointing, though, as Thomas set a record with 45 hot dogs last year -- over nine more than she was able to chow down on this year.

Now that everyone is done watching hot dogs, quickly read Spencer Hall’s guide to enjoying fireworks like an American, watch Dan Rubenstein describe why the Fourth of July is the best (below) and then go out and enjoy the holiday with friends, family and festivities!