SMITHFIELD, Va. – Hot dogs couldn’t hold him. Birthday cake could not contain him. So when pork ribs were presented to the number one competitive eater in the world, he rocked more than a few racks. Matt “Megatoad” Stonie ate 71 pork ribs in five minutes — a world record.
The event capped off Smithfield Foods 2015 sponsorship of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) race team with driver Aric Almirola. It also served as part of the lead up to the final round of the Whole Hog Challenge, a season-long amateur eating competition series featuring Smithfield bacon and fresh pork ribs. Stonie joined Richard Petty and Almirola in judging the ultimate eating showdown at the Miami race for the championship finale featuring all the qualifying-event winners.
“I’m a huge fan of ribs, so I jumped at the chance to team up with Smithfield, again, to set the five-minute rib-eating world record,” Stonie said. “I’m a competitor; I’m always looking for unique challenges and fun ways to test myself and raise my level of performance. I came in and set the bar pretty high and expected to put down at least 71 ribs, so to jump up on Smithfield’s stage and set the world record at 71 fresh pork ribs felt both rewarding and exhilarating.”
Major League Eating ranks Stonie the number one professional eater in the world. He is the reigning Fourth of July hot dog-eating champion, and he currently holds records for eating the most birthday cake, frozen yogurt and pumpkin pie. Earlier this year Stonie partnered with Smithfield to kick-off the season in Daytona, Fla., by setting the bacon-eating world record of 182 slices in five minutes.
“It’s been such an exciting race season for Smithfield, which is why we really wanted to close things out in a big way, and what could be more perfect than having Matt come back and this time set the five-minute rib-eating record by eating 71 Fresh Pork ribs,” said Dennis Pittman, senior director of corporate communications for Smithfield. “We’re so appreciative of all our great fans who participated in the Smithfield Whole Hog Challenge this year. We especially congratulate the finale champion, and look forward to another exciting season in 2016.”
