Chestnut Defeats Thomas at Waffle House, Dontates $2,500 to Gulf Coast

Joey Chestnut beat the number-one-ranked American, Sonya Thomas, in Stone Mountain, GA, by eating 18 1/2 eight-ounce Waffle House waffles in 10 minutes. Thomas consumed 18 Waffle House waffles to place second and Patrick Bertoletti ate 11 to place third.

Along with the title of Waffle House World Waffle Eating Champion, Chestnut won $5,000. He promptly donated $2,500 to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Waffle House donated $10,000 to hurricane victims as part of the event, which was held in front of the enormous stone ediface at Stone Mountain Park.