The line for hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut was set at 74.5 dogs in this year’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July contest. And, based on refunds issued Tuesday afternoon by some sportsbooks, he would have gotten away with it, too, had it not been for an intervening protester. FanDuel and DraftKings are among the books that have announced refunds, giving money to any online bets on Chestnut eating more than 74.5 hot dogs. Chestnut finished with 63 hot dogs, a mark good enough to give him his 15th title, but well short of last year’s record of 76. It was Chestnut’s worst performance since 2015, but arguably his most action packed. Midway through the contest, with Chestnut down to just 17 hot dogs, a protester rushed the stage at Coney Island and attempted to open a sign next to Chestnut. Chestnut quickly put the protester, who was wearing a Darth Vader mask, into a headlock before organizers removed the man and the action continued. “When he got in front of me… I didn’t know if he was going to attack me. There was a little bit of a panic, and so I grabbed it and I wasn’t sure — I didn’t know how it was all going to turn out,” Chestnut told the New York Post. “If I pushed him, I would have dropped the hot dogs in my hands,” Chestnut said. The New York Police Department charged three men Tuesday in connection with the incident. Scott Gilbertson, 21, of California — the man involved with Chestnut — was charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and harassment, according to NY1. Animal activist group Direct Action Everywhere claimed responsibility for the protest on Twitter, saying the demonstration was aimed at Nathan’s Hot Dogs supplier Smithfield Foods. The incident lasted just a few seconds, but it was deemed enough to leave the bettors outnumbered. Chestnut, despite entering the competition while on crutches, won for the seventh year in a row.
