Next to Mom and apple pie, you can’t get much more American than hot dogs on the Fourth of July.

So it was a great birthday gift for America when Californian Joey Chestnut returned the Mustard Belt to American hands on Independence Day.

At Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Chestnut ended the 6-year reign of Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi.

The first American to win in eight years, Chestnut did it in style: He set a world record, downing an amazing 66 dogs during the 12-minute contest (Kobayashi wolfed down 63 himself).

Urrp.

“Independence Day is a wonderful time to celebrate our freedoms,” said Mayor Bloomberg later.

“Now I don’t know what the Founding Fathers ever thought about this, but the right to eat as many hot dogs as possible – although not expressly named in the Bill of Rights – was no doubt on the minds of the framers,” he concluded.

No doubt.

Congratulations to Joey Chestnut, an all-American hot dog hound.