Joey Chestnut triumphs in truncated tamale tussle
update Sept 30 The Dallas News has a gallery
SCNTX.com has an article
update OK Sure has a video
The contest was truncated to 10 minutes (previous contests were 12 minutes) due to running out of tamales. This is the third MLE contest in the past 18 months to have issues with food shortages (April 2012 cupcakes | July 2012 pulled pork)
Lewisville, TX tamale contest results
1) Joey Chestnut 92 announced as official result (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)
2) Tim Janus 78
3) Miki Sudo 76
4) Jeff Butler 54
5) Michelle Lesco 47
6) Josh Miller 42
7) Nate Biller 36
8T) Bam Martinez 29
8T) Wade Peck 29
10) John Harding 21
11T) Alex Perez 18
11T) Tony Chacon 18
13) Ray Hernandez 14
14) Mark Poland 9
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Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 3:34 pm
Locust and Rhonda called it exactly right, right down to the top five placings.
just a guy said
September 28, 2013 @ 3:38 pm
Yes they did.It turned out to be a 10 min contest.The tamales were horrible under cooked and dryed out.
anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Please no negative remarks about beastman and lesco totals. Tamales are extremely difficult to eat . Anything past 30 is outstanding
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 4:36 pm
Each of those six is an amazing eater. Congratulations to all who competed.
LewisvilleTX said
September 28, 2013 @ 4:53 pm
2013 Final Results (10 min.)
91 Joey Chestnut, San Jose, CA
78 Tim Janus, New York City, NY
76 Miki Sudo, Las Vegas, NV
54 Jeff Butler, Phoenix, AZ
47 Michelle Lesco, Tuscon, AZ
42 Josh Miller, San Antonio, TX
36 Nate Biller, Wichita Falls, TX
29 Tony Martinez, Dallas, TX
29 Wade Pack, Lewisville, TX
21 John Harding, Lewisville, TX
18 Alex Perez, Grand Prairie, TX
18 Tony Chacon, Dallas, TX
14 Ray Hernandez, Lewisville, TX
9 Mark Poland, Sherman, TX
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 5:39 pm
How do you run out of a contest’s featured food? So amateur. A joke. Eaters should be pissed. Cause it could have easily affected money placings. WTF.
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 6:43 pm
contest couldn’t afford more food after paying mle
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 6:48 pm
People plan picnics better than this running out of food shit.
LewisvilleTX said
September 28, 2013 @ 6:53 pm
We did not actually run out, but it was looking pretty dicey so the announcer made the in-contest call to shorten the event by two minutes. There were some backstage issues that should not have happened, have not happened in eight previous years, and will not happen again. We apologize to the eaters and fans.
BTW, I was the one who counted and recorded the numbers with the announcer, and 91 is the correct winning total.
anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 8:04 pm
Miki got screwed. She would have passed Janus if it went 12 minutes.
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 8:20 pm
@8:04 whatever, dude. he would have beat her by more. he was building a lead.
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 8:25 pm
Until I read the second sentence, I was thinking something else.
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 8:26 pm
Yes, the truncation helped Janus. Miki would have killed him in 12 minutes.
Locust said
September 28, 2013 @ 8:53 pm
The organizers should have made certain there were enough tamales for the real eaters. It is a disgrace that the contest was shortened due to poor planning. Lesser eaters (?) should not be given so many to start. It is inexcusable that so many tamales are left uneaten by people who are not qualied to eat at the same table as the top eaters in the world. Yes, Miki got screwed. So did Tim, Joey and anyone else who was still going strong when time expired. The crowd and we, as competitive eating fans, also were deprived of seeing what would have happened in the final two minutes. Shameful!!!
anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 9:20 pm
7/26/2004 Shredder to Maine for Lobster?
IFOCE Rookie of the Year Nominee Allan “The Shredder” Goldstein is rumored to be checking out MapQuest for the most direct route
Locust said
September 28, 2013 @ 9:25 pm
Perhaps I shouldn’t have come down so hard on the organizers as they weren’t the ones who made the decision to shorten the contest. Joey, Tim, Miki, Jeff, Michelle and Josh should have been given enough tamales to go the full 12 minutes instead of having extra plates for eaters who weren’t going to finish what they were given.
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 9:47 pm
That’s like ending a baseball game after seven innings because the organizers ran out of baseballs. Even minor league sports are expected to abide by predetermined and established rules of the game. This is less than bush league. It’s sandbox league. Is MLE still trying to convince the IOC that CE should be an Olympic sport? If so, the people they sent the letter to must laugh their asses off on a recurring basis.
Anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 9:50 pm
Funny how organizers always try to defend mle and the contest. They messed up and should be held accountable. That’s for mle and the contest.
anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 10:54 pm
950 TX has pretty strict penal codes for actions of that nature. I would push for some serious jail time
anonymous said
September 28, 2013 @ 10:55 pm
947 according to a quote from George Shea dating back as far as 2004 “I vision box scores” CE is the next baseball”
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 8:08 am
In CE food is not just food, it is central to the entire speedeating activity, just like basketballs, tennis balls, golf balls, footballs, baseballs, volleyballs, and so on. Ultimately, running out of that essential component is Major League Eating’s fault, not the sponsors, the eaters, or anyone else.
As OJ already pointed out, running out of food has happened multiple times in the last year alone. It happens every year, sometimes more than once, so doing so is not really an exception.
Why is it allowed to happen every year? Because acting to prevent it is not high on MLE’s priority list. Until MLE perceives that such occurrences might threaten their bottom line, nothing will change.
Nothing has changed in a dozen or more years. Why alter anything now? That would be too much trouble, and as long as cash flow isn’t jeopardized, why bother?
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 9:50 am
I’d hate to have the boys at MLE plan a corporate picnic.
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 10:36 am
Dat’s Good BBQ who has had the responsibility to make and provide the tamales for the last 2 years. Each year claimed to have 75 dozen number right before the event. The 75 dozen number he proudly mentioned to anyone who would ask him questions about the contest or his product.
He also stated the tamales were larger this year than the 2.5 oz. in 2012 and now are 3.0 oz. and a few times I heard him use the more random weight of “close to 3.0 oz.” Well we now know they were 1.8 oz., so he may not be a numbers guy. Uhumm… cough cough
I spoke with the Dat’s Good BBQ’s owner pre contest the last 2 years and he also claimed making the same amount of 75 dozen in 2012. No shortage last year? Hmmm
I also have/he gives the impression he is donating the product under duress, at least that’s his eye rolling money losing look on his face when giving you numbers of product he is providing. Both years he mentioned unhappily the pre Tamale Eating Championships events include a contest for Lewisville city employees held days before the championship which consume 30+ dozen I believe he said 35 dozen this year. My own impression I got from him is he really didn’t like having to feed the city in order to gain advertisement he may receive from the actual contest itself.
A couple things:
562 tamales were used during 2013 contest which is far less than the 900 (75×12) he claimed to have on site pre contest.
Last year the public could buy tamales before the contest though this year they were unable to sell any at all. The second booth he sold them at nearest the stage the previous year was not even occupied (bad sign)… just an empty tent and tables. He pointed to the stage and said “they are all up there”. I said “man that’s too bad you can give them away but you can’t sell any”, he didn’t laugh. I now think he may have known what was up and that he may be short the amount needed.
Tamales that were not consumed by competitors were sold at the Dat’s Good BBQ stand immediately following the contest. They were cold and the young lady stated to persons purchasing them “these are little cold because they are leftover from the contest” I asked, “so these are the actual tamales used up there” (pointing to the stage) and she said yes. You received 4 tamales for 10 tickets, tickets were 50 cents each.
The staff for The City of Lewisville goes all out for this and it shows…. everything top notch and streamline, unfortunately the contest being cut short was beyond their control. I do not believe MLE is to blame either, Dat’s Good BBQ apparently was short… a few dozen on that 75 dozen claimed and promised. The approximately 1000 fans did not seem to notice or care the contest was cut short though a few competitors were visually displeased the moment after Sam announced “this is now a 10 minute contest”.
Finally I would like to mention the competitors… every single one appeared as pleasant and friendly as could be, the camaraderie was obvious as they all were genuinely enjoying each others company, the fans and competing.
anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 1:02 pm
Contest time was shortened at Chicago ribfest, Chicago kimchi too.
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 2:23 pm
@8:08 Actually, running out of food was a very occurrence until a year or two ago. Now it’s happening too often.
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 2:24 pm
@10:36 How do you know they were 1.8 ounces? I don’t see that mentioned anywhere.
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 2:39 pm
A very occurrence? You must be a fan of the Pet Shop Boys, who had an album by that name, Very.
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 3:04 pm
Yes. It was rare. I don’t think you’ve been around long enough to know. NOW it’s common. Something is going on with the estimates. MLE is either very bad at it, or they are trying to save money for the sponsors by giving them lowball numbers.
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 3:23 pm
2:24 watch the video at the end it shows the weight of the unwrapped tamale as 1.8 oz. on a postal scale
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 5:00 pm
Shit! Those tamales were just large wrapped Vienna Sausages!
Anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 6:39 pm
Lewisville never should have pushed aside the Dallas Tortilla and Tamale Factory. Now the tamales are small, and the records don’t mean anything. Why were the tamales so small, and why did the eaters run out of them? Probably because Lewisville awards the catering rights to the lowest bidder, who then has to make tiny tamales in order to meet its quota and not go broke. Just buy the tamales at a fair price from the same provider, and none of these problems will occur in the future.
anonymous said
September 29, 2013 @ 9:44 pm
The stats page still says 12 minutes