PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Excitement for Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest builds way before the eaters take the stage on July 4th in Coney Island, New York.
"To me, it never gets old. I’m excited 11 months out," says Port Richey's Nick Wehry.
Wehry is the fourth-ranked competitive eater in the world, and he says the fanfare before the competition never gets old.
"There are times that practices are tough, of course, like anything. The actual build-up to Coney and our biggest day of the year… no way. At this point, it’s still electric to me."
The big headline going into this year's contest is who won't be competing. 16-time Nathan's champion Joey Chestnut signed an endorsement deal with another hot dog company, and he won't be eligible to compete. Now, the race for competitive eating's top prize is wide open.
"Joey’s a dear friend, and he’s probably the best to ever do, do, do. With that said, his numbers have gone down progressively throughout the last few years," Wehry explained. "Who knows where he may have landed this year? But I think it’s really exciting to see probably five guys having a legitimate shot at the title, maybe six."
The spectacle that is competitive eating has plenty of fans and plenty of critics, but Wehry's approach to his passion is pretty simple.
"Do you believe in what you’re doing? Are you bringing more good into the world than negativity? Then chase it," Nick said. "Chase it with everything you have, and you will give yourself a shot to accomplish those- maybe absurd- goals and dreams."
Nathan's contest and other exhibitions have been criticized as a gluttonous waste of food. But almost every competition Nick enters has a charitable tie.
"Just on the 4th of July, just in that contest, [Nathan's Famous is donating] 100,000 hot dogs to the Food Banks of New York. That’s one day out of the year. We do things with Feeding America year-round," Wehry added. "This year, we’re part of Wings for Wishes in Miami. We raised $428,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation South Florida. The good here seems like a much bigger ball, and the bad is like a grain of sand, so hopefully, it can be forgotten."
Wehry's wife, Miki Sudo, is the top-ranked women's competitive eater in the world. She's won nine consecutive Nathan's competitions, in which she's competed. She didn't compete in 2021 because she was pregnant with the couple's son, Max.
Scheduling conflicts made her unavailable for an interview alongside Nick, but follow ABC Action News as we stay in touch with "The Hungry Couple."
This year's Nathan's Famous contest will air on ESPN on July 4th at 11 a.m.
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