Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2011: 7 Best Moments of All-Time

The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest has captured the hearts of Americans each and every Fourth of July. Joey Chestnut has dominated the contest the past few years and will be hoping he can have continued success this year.

The event dates all the way back to 1916, and it has brought people in from around the country to watch.

This year there will be two separate contests, well, unofficially. Takeru Kobayashi is still involved in a contract dispute with Major League Eating and will not be competing from Nathan's. Instead, Kobayashi will be competing from a rooftop bar a few blocks away.

While we won't enjoy the Chestnut-Kobayashi rivalry this year, here are the seven best moments in hot dog history. 

7. William "The Refrigerator" Perry Eating Only 4 Hot Dogs

The Fridge competed in the 2003 event after winning a celebrity qualifying event to get into the competition. In the qualifying event, Perry ate twelve hot dogs to make his way into the Coney Island event.

Once Perry got to Coney Island he only ate four hot dogs and stopped eating completely with four minutes remaining.

Perry certainly did not live up to his nickname The Fridge and disappointed Chicago Bears fans from around the country.

6. Tie of 1990

Mike DeVito and Jay Green tied for the first time in the history of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Green was coming off of back-to-back victories at the contest.

Both men ate 15 hot dogs, which was relatively high for that time. DeVito went on to win two more times at Coney Island in 1993 and 1994 and posted a career high of 20 in that event.

5. First Japanese Contestant Wins

Hirofumi Nakajima became the first Japanese contestant to win the Nathan's Hot Dog Contest in 1997 when he set a new event world record.

Nakajima broke both the Japanese world record and the Nathan's record of 24.5.

Nakajima repeated as champion in 1998 before being defeated in the controversial victory of Steve Keiner in 1999. 

4. Steve Keiner Controversy

Steve Keiner won his only Nathan's Hot Dog Contest in 1999 after eating 20.5 hot dogs. What many don't know about the event is that Keiner apparently ate half a hot dog before the event started.

Keiner would have been disqualified had any of the judges noticed that he had already eaten half a hot dog before the timer started.

3. Takeru Kobayashi Sets New World Record

Takeru Kobayashi set an incredible world record in 2001 when he ate 50.5 hot dogs. It was an incredible victory by Kobayashi and it was an unprecedented amount of hot dogs for a person to eat.

He absolutely blew the world records out of the water and defeated the second place finisher by 24 hot dogs.

The victory started six straight years of dominance by Kobayashi before Joey Chestnut came along.

2. Kobayashi Arrested

Nathan's Hot Dog legend Takeru Kobayashi opted not to participate in the 2010 event after a dispute with Major League Eating but opted to attend the event as a spectator.

Kobayashi was in the crowd the entire event, until Joey Chestnut came out victorious. Kobayashi opted to rush the stage and was promptly arrested by security for trespassing.

It was a shocking downfall for the once great eater, and it appears that he won't participate in 2011 either but will compete unofficially from a rooftop bar in New York City.

1. Joey Chestnut Defeats Takeru Kobayashi

Joey Chestnut ended the reign on Takeru Kobayashi in 2007 as he broke the new world record. He ate 66 hot dogs in the event, and Kobayashi was left wondering what happened.

Chestnut has continued dominating the competition since 2007 and defeated Kobayashi for three consecutive years before Kobayashi got into a contract dispute with Major League Eating.

Seeing Chestnut defeat Kobayashi sent the crowd up in cheers as the relatively unknown eater came out of nowhere to eat 59.5 hot dogs in a qualifying event before finally knocking off Kobayashi with 66 at Coney Island.