Hot dog eating record broken in Tempe

American Major League Eating champion Joey Chestnut broke the world record today at Nathan’s Famous 4th of July International Hot Dog-Eating Competition at Arizona Mills mall in Tempe.

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He downed 59 ½ hot dogs in 12 minutes.

Chestnut has now qualified for the championship event on July 4 and is poised to take on the former world champ, Japanese eating powerhouse Takeru Kobayashi.

Kobayashi set a new world record last year at the championship event, eating 53 ¾ dogs in 12 minutes, beating Chestnut by less than two dogs.

Now, Chestnut is set to bring the title back to America. He will face off with the Mustard Yellow International Belt holder on July 4 on Coney Island in New York and see if he can out-eat the living legend.

Beating Kobayashi in the final competition will be a major upset for the former world record holder, who has held the title for the past six years. “I’m going to keep pushing my body and maybe I can beat him,” Chestnut said while prepping for the competition.

Ryan Nerz, emcee of the event and media manager of Major League Eating said that he wasn’t surprised by Chestnut’s jaw-dropping performance. “I’ve been talking to him and he said, ‘Unless I have a really bad day I’m gonna break (the record).’”

Chestnut’s shocking upset in Tempe will only heat up the competition on Coney Island, though. “Kobayashi will hear about this really soon,” Nerz warned.

The round of applause, signs declaring “55 or bust,”and chants of “Joey, Joey” from the crowd set the mood of the spectacle, and Chestnut felt the pressure. “I’m excited but I always get pretty nervous,” Chestnut said before taking the stage.

After the crowd shouted out a countdown to the start of the clock, Chestnut began gorging on each dog and bun, soaked in water, with a pulsating body motion. “(I’ve been) building up a tolerance,” Chestnut said, “Just like any other sport, you have to push your body.”

“There is almost no chewing that goes on,” Nerz said, explaining that a few years ago, Kobayashi had already figured this out. The champions train themselves to not react to their gag reflex, and to master their esophageal muscles, he said.

As Nerz proclaimed to the crowd that, “I am absolutely shocked and awed, ladies and gentlemen” in his barber shop’s hat, Chestnut thrust his triumphant fist in the air and the crowd cheered.

So, when’s the next time he’ll touch a hot dog? Not as long as you might think. “Probably about 3 days,” he said. The international title is now barely out of his reach.