Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
2024-04-26 – 2024-04-27 · Florence, AL · 📍 200 Jim Spain Drive
Reps: CAROL BIGLER, RANDY G BIGLER · Prize money: $3,000.00
Grand Champion: Mad Rocket Barbeque (353.7028) · 40 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Shmack Q
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Perfect 180s
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Prize money
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Came back for more
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🪒 A razor-thin finish
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.5828 points — closer than 86% of every championship in the data.
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 2–3: Small Batch BBQ - TN and MAD ROCKET BARBECUE tied on 177.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: Shmack Q and LEE LA Q tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 8–9: 362 Que and Saturday Night Swine tied on 173.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: PuckDaddy's Killer Q (won 2023).
🃏 An upset on the books
Mad Rocket Barbecue came in rated below the field's top team, NORALA BBQ TEAM, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 34-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-04-28 | Florence, AL | McFarland Park | 36 | 527.9656 | PuckDaddy's Killer Q | — |
| 2024-04-26 ← this one | Florence, AL | 200 Jim Spain Drive | 40 | 353.7028 | Mad Rocket Barbeque | — |
| 2025-08-01 | Florence, AL | 200 James M Spain Dr | 23 | 353.1200 | Electro-Que-Ted | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.7144 | 176.5600 | 173.1316 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7372 | 174.2744 | 173.1200 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
40 entries · top 353.7028 · median 335.3716
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MAD ROCKET BARBECUE | |
| 2 | Shmack Q | |
| 3 | Small Batch BBQ - TN | |
| 4 | RIBLIFE | |
| 5 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! | |
| 6 | REDBONES BBQ | |
| 7 | Saturday Night Swine | |
| 8 | LEE LA Q | |
| 9 | Red, White & Que | |
| 10 | Curly Bird BBQ | |
| 11 | 362 Que | |
| 12 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 13 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 14 | Bentley Que | |
| 15 | PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q | |
| 16 | NORALA BBQ TEAM | |
| 17 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 18 | When Pigs Fly - Florence, AL | |
| 19 | Ghost Hill BBQ | |
| 20 | Word Brothers BBQ | |
| 21 | Going Hogging | |
| 22 | Scuttlebutts | |
| 23 | Modest Meats | |
| 24 | NATTY QUE | |
| 25 | FLO TOWN SMOKERS | |
| 26 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 27 | Idle Times | |
| 28 | Big Jerry's Grillin | |
| 29 | Warden's Jailhouse BBQ | |
| 30 | Dogpatch Q | |
| 31 | Smokin 3's BBQ | |
| 32 | AMERICA FIRST BBQ | |
| 33 | Shake and Bake | |
| 34 | Outlaw BBQ | |
| 35 | Burnt Offerings BBQ | |
| 36 | Smokey Broskies | |
| 37 | Paul Meyer's Barbeque | |
| 38 | Terry Equipment Smoke | |
| 39 | COLD SMOKE | |
| 40 | Smokin' D's |
Chicken
40 entries · top 177.7144 · median 169.6742
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bentley Que | |
| 2 | Small Batch BBQ - TN | |
| 3 | MAD ROCKET BARBECUE | |
| 4 | Shmack Q | |
| 5 | LEE LA Q | |
| 6 | RIBLIFE | |
| 7 | REDBONES BBQ | |
| 8 | 362 Que | |
| 9 | Saturday Night Swine | |
| 10 | Red, White & Que | |
| 11 | Going Hogging | |
| 12 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! | |
| 13 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 14 | PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q | |
| 15 | Curly Bird BBQ | |
| 16 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 17 | NATTY QUE | |
| 18 | When Pigs Fly - Florence, AL | |
| 19 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 20 | Scuttlebutts | |
| 21 | NORALA BBQ TEAM | |
| 22 | Modest Meats | |
| 23 | Warden's Jailhouse BBQ | |
| 24 | Ghost Hill BBQ | |
| 25 | FLO TOWN SMOKERS | |
| 26 | Idle Times | |
| 27 | AMERICA FIRST BBQ | |
| 28 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 29 | Smokey Broskies | |
| 30 | Word Brothers BBQ | |
| 31 | Burnt Offerings BBQ | |
| 32 | Outlaw BBQ | |
| 33 | Smokin 3's BBQ | |
| 34 | Shake and Bake | |
| 35 | Dogpatch Q | |
| 36 | Big Jerry's Grillin | |
| 37 | Terry Equipment Smoke | |
| 38 | COLD SMOKE | |
| 39 | Paul Meyer's Barbeque | |
| 40 | Smokin' D's |
Pork Ribs
40 entries · top 177.7372 · median 169.1028
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! | |
| 2 | Shmack Q | |
| 3 | MAD ROCKET BARBECUE | |
| 4 | RIBLIFE | |
| 5 | Big Jerry's Grillin | |
| 6 | Small Batch BBQ - TN | |
| 7 | Saturday Night Swine | |
| 8 | Word Brothers BBQ | |
| 9 | Curly Bird BBQ | |
| 10 | Ghost Hill BBQ | |
| 11 | NORALA BBQ TEAM | |
| 12 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 13 | REDBONES BBQ | |
| 14 | Red, White & Que | |
| 15 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 16 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 17 | 362 Que | |
| 18 | PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q | |
| 19 | When Pigs Fly - Florence, AL | |
| 20 | LEE LA Q | |
| 21 | Modest Meats | |
| 22 | Dogpatch Q | |
| 23 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 24 | FLO TOWN SMOKERS | |
| 25 | Bentley Que | |
| 26 | Idle Times | |
| 27 | Scuttlebutts | |
| 28 | Paul Meyer's Barbeque | |
| 29 | Shake and Bake | |
| 30 | Going Hogging | |
| 31 | NATTY QUE | |
| 32 | Warden's Jailhouse BBQ | |
| 33 | Smokin 3's BBQ | |
| 34 | Outlaw BBQ | |
| 35 | AMERICA FIRST BBQ | |
| 36 | Burnt Offerings BBQ | |
| 37 | Terry Equipment Smoke | |
| 38 | Smokey Broskies | |
| 39 | Smokin' D's | |
| 40 | COLD SMOKE |
Ancillary categories
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
Turkey Smoke Series — Turkey Smoke
22 entries · top 177.1428 · median 169.1142
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 2 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 3 | Outlaw BBQ | |
| 4 | AMERICA FIRST BBQ | |
| 5 | When Pigs Fly - Florence, AL | |
| 6 | Shake and Bake | |
| 7 | Dogpatch Q | |
| 8 | Smokin 3's BBQ | |
| 9 | LEE LA Q | |
| 10 | FLO TOWN SMOKERS | |
| 11 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 12 | Paul Meyer's Barbeque | |
| 13 | Word Brothers BBQ | |
| 14 | Red, White & Que | |
| 15 | Warden's Jailhouse BBQ | |
| 16 | Ghost Hill BBQ | |
| 17 | Terry Equipment Smoke | |
| 18 | Curly Bird BBQ | |
| 19 | Scuttlebutts | |
| 20 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 21 | COLD SMOKE | |
| 22 | Smokin' D's |