(July 4, 2008)--Joey Chestnut successfully defended his title Friday at Coney Island's annual hot dog eating contest, but it wasn’t an easy victory.
After 10 minutes and 59 hot dogs apiece, Chestnut was tied with archrival and six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi.
The competition then headed to a five-dog eat-off in which Chestnut downed the dogs the quickest to grab the coveted mustard-yellow title belt and $10,000 top prize.
In addition to Kobayashi, Chestnut bested 18 other gluttonous gladiators in a competition that was two minutes shorter than in years past because of the discovery that the original competition in 1916 was just 10 minutes long.
An International Federation of Competitive Eating founder says this is the first time in his memory that the contest went into overtime.
Chestnut and Kobayashi will battle again in September during the World Hamburger Eating Championship.