Courtesy of the Krystal Square Off Blog

The second of seven regional qualifiers for the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship took place today in front of a boisterous crowd in a hot and sticky Jacksonville, Fla., and it was the hometown hero Hall Hunt, the eighth ranked eater in the world, who reigned supreme by devouring 60 of the fast food icon’s famous hamburgers in eight minutes. On his way to victory over a field that included the fiercely competitive Sonya Thomas, Hunt eclipsed the previous Jacksonville Qualifier record of 52 Krystals set in 2006 by Joey Chestnut, the world’s top ranked eating pro.

The win earns Hunt a spot at the FSN South-televised final table of Krystal Square Off V on Sept. 28, held in Krystal’s hometown of Chattanooga. There, Hunt will go up against defending champ and Krystal world record holder Joey Chestnut, three-time Krystal Square Off World Champion Takeru Kobayashi, the top finisher from each regional qualifier and three wild card entries. On the line will be a $50,000 cash purse, the largest in competitive eating history.

Hunt’s win over Thomas, who finished second today with 55 Krystals, brings The Black Widow’s impressive 12-0 lifetime qualifier streak to an end. Her mark today though could be good enough to earn her one of the coveted wild card spots at this year’s final table.

Finishing in third today was Rich Guadagnolo of Jacksonville with 15 Krystals. Guadagnolo was one of the five amateur eaters chosen on the spot to compete right before the contest began.

Bruce “The Hangman” Pobanz, who rightly predicted he’d lose to Sonya Thomas, ate just 12 Krystals.

In other competitive eating news, Eatfeats is reporting that Humble Bob Shoudt claimed his second victory over Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti in the spaghetti chili contest at King’s Island.  Shoudt consumed 13.5 lbs to win $2,500 while Chestnut downed 13.2 lbs to take home $1,500.  Bertolleti was in third with 11 lbs.

It will be interesting to see if Shoudt can out-eat Chestnut when the two meet up again in Chattanooga at the final table of the Krystal Square Off V on September 28.

In the meantime, stay tuned as we’ll bring you all the latest in Krystal Square Off V news.  You can also check out the Krystal Square Off Blog for photos and podcast interviews with the eaters.  And don’t forget to sign up to follow the Krystal Square Off V Qualifiers via Twitter for live, instant updates.

Krystal competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt has posted the August edition of the Major League Eating Eater’s Poll.

Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi and Pat Bertoletti once again round out the top three respectively.

Humble Bob Shoudt, however, has jumped up two spots to claim the fourth position, probably due to his wins at Ash Creek and the Krystal Square Off Qualifier in Chattanooga.

Tim “Eater X” Janus moves down one spot this month to claim fifth.

You can check out the entire poll over on Hunt’s blog.

Also, don’t forget to follow Hunt this weekend as he goes head-to-head against the top-ranked female competitive eater in the world Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas at the Jacksonville Qualifier for the Krystal Square Off V.

Read more about this competitive eating match-up and listen to what both eaters have to say about this weekend’s competition over at the Krystal Square Off Blog.

And remember to sign up for live updates from the Krystal Square Off Tour via Twitter. 

As we mentioned last month, Major League Eating: The Game for Nintendo Wii will be available for download beginning May 12, and based on the online chatter we’re seeing, gamers and competitive eating fans can’t wait to get their hands and virtual mouths on the exciting new game.

As an “appetizer” to its release, the game’s developer has launched a website for the new Wii game at MLEGame.com. There, you can watch a promotional trailer, take a look at screen shots and view all the characters. When you check out the site, be sure to look for the stack of Krystal burgers up front and center on the homepage.

We have to say, the game looks like a ton of fun.

Not only can you compete as one of the greats, such as Joey Chestnut, Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas or Pat Bertoletti, all of who are Krystal Square Off competitive eaters, but you also get to binge, belch and blow gastric fireballs at other competitors. What could be better?

Check out the “Major League Eating: The Game” trailer below, which features Eric “Badlands” Booker’s anthemic eating rap “The Sweet Science (of competitive eating)”: