Location: Nichols, NY
CHESTNUT SETS NEW CHICKEN SPIEDIE RECORD!
Winning solves everything. Winning erases the dark past. Winning extends a pen and asks you to write history on your terms. Winning is the only thing.
So it was great to see that smile back—that smile. Not the prettiest in the world, no, but one that beams from ear to ear. The smile of Joseph Chestnut. The smile of the greatest eater in the history of the world. The smile of the man who here, today, felt that winning feeling for the first time in too long. Joey Chestnut won the 2015 Tioga Downs World Chicken Spiedie Eating Championship Presented by Lupo’s. Joey Chestnut ate 14 Lupo's Chicken Spiedies in 10 minutes, besting his previous record by one-quarter of one chicken spiedie. Joey Chestnut remains Joey Chestnut.
Before the event, Chestnut remarked through the magic of social media that he was looking to a) Win the event, and b) Get his year back on track. Now, let's talk turkey: the win marked his fifth Championship win of the calendar year thus far. In anybody's language, that's a year worth remembering. A year that needs no righting. A year any eater worth their salt would sign up for on the stroke of midnight each and every December 31st. But Chestnut is not you or I or any one of a number of eaters. He is Chestnut and his successes and failures are judges by stricter measures. This year, he is the seven-year-old violin prodidy who nailed JS Bach’s Chaconne from Partita in D Minor at the recital but flubbed slightly when it came to Paganini’s Caprice No. 4 in C Minor, capiche?
Quick contest recap: Chestnut ate harder and faster than any of his challengers. He lead from the front and did not surrender an inch. If you were not there, simply imagine a classic Chestnut performance and you'd get 90 percent of what transpired.
What you would have missed, though was the inspired surroundings of Tioga Downs, a picture-perfect harness racing facility in Nichols, NY, 30 miles to the west of Binghamton. (Those who would like to relive the four-legged efforts of the evening can do so HERE; Flash player required. MLE was confident of Bourbon Bay in the third and was duly compensated.)
All who came to eat, however, were winners: So delicious is the Lupo’s spiedie that even the salty tears of defeat could not dim its shine. (Never heard of the chicken spiedie? Friend, you have not lived! The term "spiedie" comes from the Italian spiedini, referring to cubes or balls of meat cooked on a skewer. This is what Wikipedia says.) Lupo’s spiedies are delicious—something they have been saying in Endicott, NY, for decades and will say for centuries. Many thanks go to Sam and Steve Lupo for their culinary mastery and kind hospitality.
Full results below.
FULL RESULTS! 1st - Joey Chestnut, 14 Lupo's Chicken Spiedies in 10 minutes 2nd - Juan Rodriguez, 11.75 3rd - Geoffrey Esper, 11 4th - Yasir Salem, 10 5th - Badlands Booker, 8 6th - Buffalo Jim Reeves, 7.75 7th - Daniella Gioia, 5.75 8th - Jeff Berish and Ryan Siciliano, 5.5 10th - Wild Bill Myers, 5.25 11th - Jack Diamond, 5 12th - Mike Deitz and Larell Marie Mele, 4.5
This contest took place at 7pm Eastern, on Saturday August 8th, 2015, trackside at Tioga Downs Casino, Racing & Entertainment, 2384 W River Rd, Nichols, NY 13812!
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*All applicants must be 18 years of age or older and fully acknowledge and understand the inherent dangers and risks associated with participating in an eating contest. The applicant further acknowledges and understands that the MLE/IFOCE coordinates with event sponsor(s) to select and approve eligible participants, and that the MLE/IFOCE shall decide, at its sole discretion, whether an applicant is eligible to participate in any eating event, and/or related activities. The MLE/IFOCE may revoke an applicant's eligibility to participate in the eating contest, or related activities, at any time, for any reason, at its sole discretion. The MLE/IFOCE and the event sponsors reserve the right, at any time, to change any and all details concerning the event, including, e.g., time, duration, location and prize structure.