Two world records were shattered in Cheyenne over the weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, Trent Weitzel, owner of Weitzels Wings, credited his loyal customers and employees for helping he and his team set new world records for most wings sold in an eight-hour and 24-hour periods.
“We couldn’t do it without you guys,” he told a cheering crowd lined up outside Freedom’s Edge Brewery in downtown Cheyenne as the deadline passed.
Many were still lined up for wings long after the record was broken, a strong testament to their support of their favorite local wing spot.
Not Even Close
Weitzels, aka Double Dubs, had no problem breaking either world record, likely passing both thresholds with hours to spare.
Overall, 48,083 wings were sold during the 24-hour period that ran from 1 p.m. Friday to 1 p.m. Saturday, leapfrogging the old record by nearly 8,000 wings.
At 9 p.m. Friday, Weitzel discovered they had beaten the eight-hour record, selling 28,049 wings. This exceeded the previous record by 5,002 wings.
High-fives and short hugs were exchanged among Double Dubs staff and fans after the first record was broken, but Weitzel didn’t exactly breathe a sigh of relief. A self-described competitive person, it was all or nothing for the Wyoming king of buffalo wings.
“You want both of them,” he said. “If I set out to do them both, I have no choice but to do them. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win.”
Weitzel had wanted to break a world record since he was a child. When doing push ups for 24 hours straight or shooting milk out of his eye proved not to be viable for him, he looked to something he was already good at — selling wings.
“It’s something I looked at and said, ‘I could actually do this,’” he said.
Late Night Antics
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Double Dubs kept churning out the wings.
The crew got one late-night rush after the local Fridays On the Plaza concert finished. Another came when bartenders finished up their shifts.
Weitzel said no more than an hour passed without any sales, a relatively steady stream of customers looking to get their wing fix well past 4 in the morning. One customer said he waited until 2:30 a.m. so he wouldn’t have to wait in line for wings.
Double Dubs employee Evee Caramanno said there were a few people pulling all-nighters that stopped by.
“The later it got the more dancing I saw,” she said with a laugh.
Weitzel said he only slept about 20 minutes and even got up in the middle of the night to cook up a batch of 1,500 wings. It was a flashback moment from when he first started selling wings in 2007.
Caramanno said it was a roller coaster experience she thoroughly enjoyed, but she’s also looking forward to sleeping it off Sunday.
“I will do anything for this company, deprive myself of sleep, I can’t turn it down,” she said.
Weizens Wings owner Trent Weitzel talks to the crowd in downtown Cheyenne after it was announced his Double Dubs team smashed the world record for selling wings. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Trent Weitzel hugs his daughter after the world record announcement Saturday. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Weizens Wings has a huge following in southern Wyoming. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Even as the deadline drew near for setting a world record, a long line of people wait for Weitzels Wings. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily)
The Finish Line
With “We Are The Champions” by Queen blasting from the speakers, Weitzel hugged his family and staff upon breaking the second record.
He refused to check what the tally was until 1 p.m. on the dot, adding a layer of suspense to the record-breaking attempt. But he and his staff said they weren’t nervous, expressing confidence they would meet the mark.
Neither of the world records will be recognized Guinness World Records as Weitzel said the company requested a roughly $25,000 fee to make it official. To him, that hardly matters as he knows in his heart they met the challenge.
“It’s really hard to do all that we accomplished,” Weitzel said. “It’s all thanks to the people that helped me set that record is what’s got me here.”
His crew was ready for the challenge, many running on pure adrenaline that quickly started to fade after finding out they had reached their goals. It wasn’t the first rodeo for the “Dubs Mafia” team.
“It’s just like a busy day at a festival, but for 24 hours straight,” Weitzel said.
Weitzel already has his next challenge in mind, looking forward to defending Weitzels Wings’Festival Favorite title at the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York, in September. They’ve already got a friendly rivalry in the works with Booty’s Wings of Arizona, a previous champion that didn’t enter the competition last year.
Although the owner of Booty’s texted Weitzel to congratulate him on his feat Saturday, the two have already been exchanging friendly barbs about their upcoming showdown in September.
“It’s a hardcore friendly rivalry, but I’m going to kick his ass,” Weitzel said.
