Contestants go Whole Hog in eating competition at the World Center of Racing

Before the skies decided to open up and delay the start of the 2015 Coke Zero 400, fans gathered in the new Midway section outside of turn 1 to enjoy a competition of epic proportions. Nine people who considered themselves to have iron stomachs competed in the Smithfield Whole Hog Challenge for a a pair of Richard Petty Driving Experience ride-along passes courtesy of Smithfield. The Smithfield Whole Hog Challenge is a series of amateur competitive eating contests. Qualifying contests will be held at most Smithfield primary races throughout the 2015 racing season at tracks including Bristol, Charlotte, Daytona, Dover, Fontana, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Martinsville, Michigan, Richmond, Talladega, and Texas. 

In addition to “fueling” the crew, Chef Justin Leo of American Q in Orlando also joined Petty and Almirola in judging the Smithfield Whole Hog Challenge. Taking place at the Smithfield display in the Fan Zone, Daytona was the ninth qualifying event of the season-long amateur-eating competition series. The winner, Tom Cavalli of Clermont, FL , finished a plate of ribs, five in all, in a record 2 minutes, 40 seconds, and won the ride-along as well as  a trip to compete in the ultimate Smithfield Whole Hog Challenge championship showdown in Miami at the end of the race season,

 

EVENT SCHEDULE:

Qualifying Events

Date
Race
 
 
22-Feb
Daytona Beach, Florida
8-Mar
Las Vegas, Nevada
22-Mar
Fontana, California
19-Apr
Bristol, Tennessee
25-Apr
Richmond, Virginia
16-May
Charlotte, North Carolina
31-May
Dover, Delaware
14-Jun
Brooklyn, Michigan
5-Jul
Daytona Beach, Florida
11-Jul
Sparta, Kentucky
22-Aug
Bristol, Tennessee
12-Sep
Richmond, Virginia
10-Oct
Charlotte, North Carolina
25-Oct
Talladega, Alabama
1-Nov
Martinsville, Virginia
8-Nov
Fort Worth. Texas

 

Final Competition

22-Nov Homestead, Florida

 
The Champion will win a trip to the 2016 season-opener race in Daytona. 

Aric Almirola, also known as the “Cuban Missile”, drives in the Smithfield sponsored No. 43 machine each week in the Sprint Cup Series. He is one of the most-recognized racing drivers in the sport, and is only the third Latino driver to ever win a race at this level of NASCAR. This 31-year-old Florida-born driver returned the famed No. 43 car to Victory Lane last season for the first time since 1999.

Adam Sinclair