THE RIGHT STUFF

Chestnut downs 72 dogs to set Coney mark

ALL HAIL the — buurrppp! — undisputed king of competitive eating.

Ten-time Nathan’s Famous hot dog-eating champ Joey Chestnut, in a feat that turned heads and stomachs, inhaled a record 72 hot dogs in a Fourth of July tourde-force-feeding.

Chestnut chomped his way through one hot dog every 8.3 seconds to snap his old frank-eating mark of 70, earning the eating machine his 10th win in the last 11 years of the summer tube steak throwdown.

“I’m happy,” said Chestnut, 33, of San Jose, Calif. “The crowd was amazing. It was another great Fourth of July.”

Chestnut (photo, r.) known as “Jaws,” admitted downshifting near the end of the 10-minute contest that he still won in a frank-slide.

“I slowed down quite a bit — I was sweating like a mad dog,” said Chestnut after his triumph. “I know I can do better. Next year, if I come back, I’ll be pushing hard.”

Chestnut, who needed a towel to clean his sweaty face of stray beef and bun bits, planned to celebrate by not eating again until Wednesday.

The defending champ had vowed to go for 80 franks this year, and knocked back 46 by the halfway point of the contest.

But he couldn’t keep up the frenetic feeding frenzy.

After downing “just” 20 in the next four minutes, Chestnut closed strong with six hot dogs in the last 60 seconds to claim the mustard yellow belt symbolic of competitive eating supremacy.

The runner-up was 150-pound Carmine Cincotti of Newark, N.J., who knocked back a respectable 62 but still couldn’t come close to beating Chestnut.

“He’s on the decline,” insisted Cincotti, predicting an upset in 2018. “If I keep going, I should be able to win easily.”

Matt (The Megatoad) Stonie, the only eater to defeat Chestnut at Coney Island in the last 11 years, finished third with 48.

Stonie, 25, who weighs a mere 130 pounds, sucked down 62 dogs in 2015 to interrupt Chestnut’s reign.

The weather was conducive to speed eating, with the temperature just above 80 degrees on a muggy afternoon. The crowd was fully behind the favorite as the annual chowdown kicked off.

“We love you, Joey!” howled one of his backers when the competition was over.

Miki Sudo won the women’s competition, knocking back 41 dogs and buns to score a fourth consecutive Fourth of July victory.

Five protesters were taken into custody by the NYPD after apparently trying to raise a black banner in the crowd packing the corner of Surf and Stillwell Aves.

All were released without any charges filed, police said. A similar incident last year involved animal rights activists.