Despite the collective will of the Americans to take back the [Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest] prize, only 1 U.S. contestant has come close to Japanese records. The best U.S. competitor is Joey Chestnut, a college student from California. His 2006 tally of 50 hot dogs is 3.5 hot dogs behind Takeru Kobayashi’s 2004 record of 53.5 hot dogs (a little under 13.5 seconds per hot dog). He finished with 52 hot dogs and came in second at Nathan’s in 2006. Results from the 2006 Las Vegas qualifying contest give some degree of hope to American competitors that they will be able to wrest the belt from Kobayashi in future contests. Kobayashi is the only person in the history of the contest to win six competitions (2001-2006) in a row.