Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest is Friday.
The yearly bun fight, which dates back to 1972, sees large crowds of fans in foam hot-dog hats gather in front of the original Nathan's Famous' restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn, to cheer on the competitors as they chow down. The contestants are allowed to dunk the dogs in cups of water to soften them up, creating a stomach-churning spectacle.
This year the hot dog eating world record-holder Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, is back at the competition after he skipped last year's event over a contract dispute.
Chestnut is expected to dominate the men's competition in what will be his 20th appearance. He's won 16 titles and holds the world record of eating 76 hot dogs.
Last year, Patrick Bertoletti, of Chicago, gobbled up a gut-wrenching 58 at the competition in Coney Island, in 10 minutes, earning the men's title. Defending champion Miki Sudo won her 10th title in the women's division, downing a record 51 links.
That same day Chestnut ate 57 dogs -- in only five minutes -- in an exhibition with soldiers, in El Paso, Texas.
Along with Chestnut and Bertoletti, the men's side includes Jerome Burns, Connecticut; Nicholas Wehry, Florida; Gideon Oji, Georgia; Cameron Meade, Indiana; Adrian Morgan, Louisiana; Geoffrey Esper, Massachusetts; Derek Hendrickson, Nevada; George Chiger; Pennsylvania; James Webb, Australia; Max Stanford, England; Ricardo Corbucci, Brazil; Radim Dvořáček, Czech Republic; Darrien Thomas, Canada.
Kelly Lewis represents the Midwest on the women's side, as she hails from Overland Park, Kansas.
Others in the women's competition include Michelle Lesco, Arizona; Tandra Childress, California; Laura Beitler, Illinois; Madison Barone, New Jersey; Domenica Dee, New York; Camille O'Brien, New York; Cherish Brown, Ohio; Larell Marie Mele, Pennsylvania; Jocelyn Young, Texas; Katie Prettyman, Washington; Isabeau Prettyman, Washington.
If you can't make it to Coney Island, ESPN will be airing and streaming the competition. Coverage of the women's competition begins at 10:45 a.m. ET on ESPN2. The men's competition airs at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2, with re-airs at 5 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
