Memphis Krystal Square Off V Qualifier: Where The Wild Cards Are
The Krystal Square Off V qualifying tour makes its final stop this Sunday, Sept. 21 in Memphis at the Mid South Fair, and if we used words like “doozie” (and we don’t) we’d say it looks to be a doozie with some big name competitive eating pros taking one last stab at winning a seat, or at least putting up a big enough number to earn one of the three coveted wild card spots at the finals in Chattanooga on Sept. 28.
Among the headliners confirmed for the contest include Rich LeFevre, Crazy Legs Conti, Juris Shibayama, Erik Denmark, Chris Abatsas, Damon Serignet and Steve Larson. LeFevre comes into the contest as the favorite with a previous best of 53 Krystals, but “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama and Crazy Legs Conti will push the seasoned pro to his limits as both just put up their biggest career numbers last week (51 and 50, respectively). Shibayama, who currently sits in the top three of the wild card race, was penalized with debris deductions in Nashville, and if he cleans up his act he could easily hit 55 Krystals or more.
While Shibayama may not have to improve to make the finals, it’s do or die for Crazy Legs if he hopes to make a return trip back to Chattanooga. Of course he always has his competitive movie watching career to fall back on.
This will be the fifth year the Mid South Fair has hosted a Krystal qualifier. In 2004, Sam “Big Country” Vise made his eating career debut by beating Don “Moses” Lerman. A year later, Vise took the local title again by out-eating “Super” Dave Connolly 33 Krystals to 23. In 2006 and 2007, Tim “Eater X” Janus was king of the Krystal in Memphis, winning a close contest in 2006 against LeFevre and last year putting away an impressive 73 Krystals.
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