Badlands Booker Backs Out Of Birmingham Krystal Qualifier

Competitive eating giant Badlands Booker will be missed in Birmingham tomororw.

Eric “Badlands” Booker will have to hope his 51 Krystals stick.

Expected to compete at the Krystal Square Off V Qualifier in Birmingham tomorrow where he was hoping to improve upon the 51 he ate last week in Nashville, Booker has just confirmed with us that he will not be making it down South.

Badlands is currently in the thick of the wild card race for this year’s Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 51 Krystals he ate in Nashville puts him second overall among the qualifying tour’s non-winners. The top three will compete at the finals next Sunday in Chattanooga.

But with so many top eaters heading to Memphis for the last qualifier on Sunday, Booker has a lot to worry about, and we expect he’ll be keeping track of the KSO Twitter feed to be the first to find out the top numbers posted.

Badlands had hinted at the possibility of bypassing Birmingham via his Twitter feed. After sending out a “tweet” on Tuesday saying “I will prove i’m better than that in Birmingham,” Booker followed up with another message pondering if 51 Krystals was enough to secure a wild card spot.

Then, yesterday the big man sent out a message on Twitter saying:

“Badlands is sweating it out this weekend, Hoping 51 krystals will be enough to make it to the finals on the 28th.”

In related Twitter news, Erik “The Red” Denmark recently remarked via Twitter: “I didn’t get ‘er done in Nashville But putting behind what we all witnessed I’m ready now for my last shot in Memphis.” His mark of 43 Krystals in Nashville was no doubt a disappointment for the west coast eater and makes him a long shot to win in Memphis or even earn a wild card spot.