Dixon Couple Compete in National Hot Dog Eating Contest on 4th of July

By NAPAGIRL (Star Patcher)

As many Americans celebrate 4th of July Independence Day enjoying a backyard BBQ with hot dogs fresh off the grill, Dixon residents Steve and Angie Hendry will be downing as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes during Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, New York. The hot dog eating contest is serious business as this 99th annual competition offers a total prize purse of $40,000.

Steve, a service tech estimator in Sacramento, and his wife Angie, a Dixon native, are coming off a win last month during a regional qualifying event in Lincoln, NE to gain entry to the Coney Island main event. The win at Lincoln was secured by 21 hot dogs eaten by Steve, 6 short of his personal best of 27, and 4 hot dogs for Angie. This will be the first trip to the Coney Island main event for both Steve and Angie, where winners have historically eaten 3 times that number of hot dogs. Last year’s winning man ate 61 hot dogs 10 minutes.

The Nathan’s Coney Island eating event, as well as others like it throughout the country, is sanctioned by the Major League Eating world body. MLE holds upwards of 80 events per year where competitors eat hot dogs, wings, ribs, tamales, oysters, and more. Steve travels two to three times per month to various eating events. He finished third place at the Hooters chicken wings qualifier event this past weekend in Long Beach, downing 124 wings, and earning a trip to Hooters Worldwide Wing Eating Championship in Clearwater, FL next month.

You can catch Steve and Angie in action at Coney Island this weekend. The main event will be broadcast live on ESPN2 starting at 12PM EST, and the women’s contest is on ESPN3 starting at 11AM EST.

Visit Nathan’s Famous for more information about the famous hot dog, the eating contest and final results.