50?! 100?! How many tacos will it take to be the official Taco eating champ?
The Fourth of July is the Super Bowl Sunday of competitive eating.
That’s mostly because of Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, an event so popular that it gets its own recap on ESPN and has created super stars out of guys like Takeru Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut (who ate 72 hot dogs in 10 minutes to take home his 10th title).
Major League Eating organizes the event each year, along with a smattering of other eating contests – the Hooters World Wing Eating Championship in Las Vegas, for example, or the Salvation Army National Donut Day World Donut Eating Championship or the Official World Taco Eating Championship.
That last one is rather new and will be put on July 29 in Fresno in conjunction with the Taco Truck Throwdown 7. There’s no word on whether any of the league superstars will be competing, but Chestnut is already a taco champion. He ate 126 three-inch tacos in eight minutes back in May.
According to MLE website, the event is open for registration, in case you’re looking to break into the game. There is a $2,000 top prize.
Joshua Tehee: 559-441-6479, @joshuatehee
This story was originally published July 5, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "50?! 100?! How many tacos will it take to be the official Taco eating champ?."