Jimmy Peng eats 16+ slices to recapture Flancer’s pizza-eating crown

All contestants received special commemorative T-shirts.

Restaurant owner Jeff Flancer is interviewed by a TV station before the contest.

Pizzas are delivered – each contestant starts with their own – and the contest is about to begin.

And they're off! Jimmy Peng, the 2009 champion, is this year's favorite to take the crown.

Combining two slices into a kind of "pizza sandwich" is a popular tactic.

Laughing makes it difficult to eat pizza quickly.

Rolling slices into crescent-roll-like shapes is another tactic?

A young onlooker competes on her own inside the restaurant.

Gilbert mayor John Lewis watches the competition.

This contestant tries the two-handed approach.

Matt Heistandt of Scottsdale, the 2004 champ, is another former winner.

Beards and pizza-eating contests don't mix well.

Many of the contestants use the popular "dunking" method.

This contestant decides to leave the crusts for last.

Her slice is finished. His? Not so much.

As the final seconds tick down, all eyes are on Jimmy Peng.

Third-place finisher Jake Stocky of Gilbert consumed nine slices

Gus Beisel of Tempe ate 15 slices but had to settle for second place.

Jimmy Peng hoists the champion's trophy for the second time in three years.