Joey Chestnut nearly matched the 58 hot dogs devoured by the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest winner — in half the time — in an alternate event on Thursday.
While the annual Fourth of July tradition took place in Coney Island without competitive eating’s biggest name, Chestnut took part in an exhibition eating contest at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and crushed 57 hot dogs in just five minutes.
The Nathan’s contest allows its competitors to eat as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes, but Chestnut was barred from this year’s event .
This came after a dispute between Chestnut and the event organizers — first reported by The Post — over the former’s endorsement deal with Impossible Foods, which launched a plant-based hot dog.
