Top dog knocked off hot top spot

IN A gut-busting showdown that combined drama, daring and indigestion, Joey Chestnut emerged yesterday as the world’s hot dog eating champion, knocking off six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi in a rousing triumph.

Chestnut, the great red, white and blue hope in the annual Fourth of July competition, broke his own world record by inhaling 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes — a staggering one every 10.9 seconds before a screaming crowd in Coney Island.

“If I needed to eat another one right now, I could,” the 23-year-old Californian said after receiving the mustard yellow belt emblematic of hot dog-eating supremacy.