Hunt Gets Nathan's Wild Card

Hall Hunt, an eating champion from Florida, has been named the 2006 Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest Wild Card Contestant.

The selection process is determined by contest results over the regular hot dog eating season. Eaters in contention must have competed in three qualifiers, and the eater with the highest average over three events is granted the wild card.

Hall consumed 18 HDBs in Sunrise, FL, 20.375 in Norfolk, VA, and 17.5 in Atlanta, GA. His average came to 18.625 HDBs.

Others in contention going into the weekend included Larry McNeil, Loren Yarbrough, Erik The Red, Pat Philbin and Allen Goldstein. Philbin and Goldstein both won events.

Erik the Red, who started with just 13 in Florida and did an impressive 19 in San Francisco, finished the circuit with an average of 17.17 HDBs.