World hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut to compete at Taco Truck Throwdown

Joey Chestnut, the ruling king of professional eaters, is coming to Fresno. And he’s hungry for some tacos.

The Fresno Grizzlies announced Thursday that Chestnut, currently ranked No. 1 by Major League Eating, will be competing in the Taco Truck Throwdown’s taco eating competition. Chestnut will going up against other top competitive eaters for the title of Taco Eating World Champion.

Snagging Chestnut on the heels of his victory in the 2017 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 in Coney Island is huge for the Fresno Grizzlies.

In the world of professional eating, there is no one bigger. Chestnut won the hotdog contest by downing a record 72 hotdogs in less than 10 minutes.

The World Taco Eating Championship will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 29. Matt Stonie, Major League Eating’s No. 2 ranked competitor, will also take part. In all, seven of the top 20 eaters in the world rankings will compete in the World Taco Eating Championship.

Celebrating its seventh year, the Taco Truck Throwdown is spread out over two days this year.

On Friday, July 28, about 40 trucks will be parked at Chukchansi Park. At the same time, there will be a game between the Grizzlies’ alter ego, the Fresno Tacos and the New Orleans Baby Cakes. An amateur taco eating competition will held that day with the winner moving on to the professional competition on Saturday.

Tickets for the Friday, July 28 game vs. New Orleans may be purchased as any other Fresno Grizzlies/Tacos tickets, online at www.FresnoGrizzlies.com or at the Chukchansi Park ticket office during a game or during business hours.

Tickets for Saturday’s Taco Festival are $10 apiece and can also be purchased online. Gates open at 2 p.m.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 3:26 PM with the headline "World hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut to compete at Taco Truck Throwdown."