Montco man devours 3d world title this month

It was a potentially explosive question.

But "Humble" Bob Shoudt of Royersford, a.k.a. "The Notorious B.O.B.," delicately deflected it.

After winning three world eating titles this month - for gobbling grits, burritos and chili spaghetti - what, uh, gave him the most gas?

"Shell gas station," he said this morning. ". . . I had to drive 3-1/2 hours to get to the grits contest. So I did go through a lot of gas."

On Saturday, 42-year-old pro eater/information technology manager polished off 18.98 pounds of grits in 10 minutes in Louisiana.

"You just pick it up and swallow it down as quick as you can. There is no chewing," said Shoudt, who's ranked fifth on the planet by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

The day before, at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque, he ate 33-1/2 quarter-pound burritos to take capture that title for the second straight time.

"I ended up losing a lot of capacity for the grits contest," he said. ". . . I think if I wouldn't have competed in burritos, I would have been able to get about 23.5 to 24 pounds of grits."

On Labor Day, he ate 13.9 pounds of chili spaghetti at a Cincinnati amusement park.

Total: More than 40 pounds of food in just three sittings. He also won $2,200 in Louisiana, $1,500 in New Mexico, and $2,500 in Ohio.

Not too shabby for a guy who, in his regular life, is a vegetarian - as well as a married father of three.

And that's not counting the 46 burgers he ate on Sept. 13 in Atlanta to qualify for Sunday's "Super Bowl of eating," the annual Krystal hamburger-eating contest in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"This is the one elusive contest that all competitive eaters want to qualify for," said Shoudt, who says he weighs 250. "Once they are there, they will do whatever it takes to get the title and the $20,000 first prize."

The recent success has buoyed his hopes of beating Takeru Kobayashi, who won the first three Kristal crowns, and Joey Chestnut, who won the last two.

A new trainer, Rick Russo, has worked out techniques that "have helped me to elevate my game," Shoudt said.

"I am not sure what I am going to do yet, but I know that I will swallow them whole for eight straight minutes if that will get me to the top of that podium," he said.

The Notorious B.O.B. hopes to keep being the Victorious B.O.B.