A first Grand Championship
10
tracked contests to get there
This was Meat Sweats's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 10th tracked contest.
IBEW So Cal BBQ & Chili Cook-Off (COMPETITOR SERIES)
2024-05-03 – 2024-05-04 · San Diego, CA · 📍 4545 ViewRidge Ave
Reps: KATHLEEN MCINTOSH, KELLY MCINTOSH
Grand Champion: Meat Sweats (648.6056) · 10 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 We Shock the Competition BBQ
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
588.97
median 619.38
648.61 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 162.32
- Pork Ribs 167.98
- Pork 165.12
- Brisket 159.95
134.26
167.98
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2023 to 2026 — this edition picked out.
Entries
10
4 judged meats · 2 ancillary
Top score
648.6056
Winning margin
9.7712
GC over RC
Field average
619.96
588.97648.61
median 619.38 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork
2.8228 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
588.9716
588.97648.61
10th place overall
Field spread
59.6340
winner to last place
Double threats
6
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 49%
beats 51% of 59 Competitor Series wins in the data
Came back for more
14%
2 of 14 teams from the previous edition returned
Storylines (5 found in this contest's numbers)
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
A statement win
9.7712
points clear of the field
Wider than 87% of the 5,579 championships in the data
The champion won by 9.7712 points — a wider margin than 87% of championships in the data.
A dynasty in the making
2×
wins at this contest
2 of 4 tracked editions
Loco Smokers has won this contest 2 times across its 4 tracked editions.
- 2025
- 2026
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 3 calls decided inside half a point
Pork places 8–9: Tangy Tramps BBQ and We BBQ For Those Who Can't tied on 152.5256 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 2–3: Meat Sweats edged Loco Smokers by 0.0228. Pork Ribs places 7–8: JMJ edged Vegas 357 by 0.0572.
- Pork 8–9 · tie
- Brisket 2–3 · 0.0228
- Pork Ribs 7–8 · 0.0572
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
Meat Sweats took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork ribs at 3rd.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 3rd
- Pork 2nd
- Brisket 2nd
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
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-05-19 | San Diego, CA | 4545 Viewridge Dr | 14 | 707.9656 | Smokin' Volts Barbeque | — |
| 2024-05-03 ← this one | San Diego, CA | 4545 ViewRidge Ave | 10 | 648.6056 | Meat Sweats | — |
| 2025-06-20 | San Diego, CA | 4545 Viewridge Ave. #100 | 15 | 694.2056 | Loco Smokers | — |
| 2026-07-17 | Santa Ana, CA | 1261 E Dyer Rd | 9 | 670.7428 | LOCO SMOKERS | Rubbed The Wrong Way |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 162.3200 | 153.1428 | 134.2628 |
| Pork Ribs | 167.9772 | 160.5600 | 149.6800 |
| Pork | 165.1200 | 162.2972 | 138.8456 |
| Brisket | 159.9544 | 154.2172 | 139.9772 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Competitor Series
Overall
10 entries · top 648.6056 · median 619.3828
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meat Sweats | |
| 2 | We Shock the Competition BBQ | |
| 3 | Loco Smokers | |
| 4 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 5 | JMJ | |
| 6 | Smoke Meat Not Meth | |
| 7 | Jr's BBQ | |
| 8 | Tangy Tramps BBQ | |
| 9 | Renew- 569 | |
| 10 | Vegas 357 |
Chicken
10 entries · top 162.3200 · median 152.8800
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meat Sweats | |
| 2 | Tangy Tramps BBQ | |
| 3 | We Shock the Competition BBQ | |
| 4 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 5 | Renew- 569 | |
| 6 | JMJ | |
| 7 | Loco Smokers | |
| 8 | Jr's BBQ | |
| 9 | Smoke Meat Not Meth | |
| 10 | Vegas 357 |
Pork Ribs
10 entries · top 167.9772 · median 159.1372
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loco Smokers | |
| 2 | Smoke Meat Not Meth | |
| 3 | Meat Sweats | |
| 4 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 5 | Jr's BBQ | |
| 6 | We Shock the Competition BBQ | |
| 7 | JMJ | |
| 8 | Vegas 357 | |
| 9 | Tangy Tramps BBQ | |
| 10 | Renew- 569 |
Pork
10 entries · top 165.1200 · median 159.9886
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smoke Meat Not Meth | |
| 2 | Meat Sweats | |
| 3 | JMJ | |
| 4 | Loco Smokers | |
| 5 | We Shock the Competition BBQ | |
| 6 | Vegas 357 | |
| 7 | Jr's BBQ | |
| 8 | Tangy Tramps BBQ | |
| 9 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 10 | Renew- 569 |
Brisket
10 entries · top 159.9544 · median 153.9486
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | We Shock the Competition BBQ | |
| 2 | Meat Sweats | |
| 3 | Loco Smokers | |
| 4 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 5 | Jr's BBQ | |
| 6 | Renew- 569 | |
| 7 | JMJ | |
| 8 | Smoke Meat Not Meth | |
| 9 | Vegas 357 | |
| 10 | Tangy Tramps BBQ |
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.
Ancillary — Chili
8 entries · top 172.5600 · median 166.5314
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Renew- 569 | |
| 2 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 3 | Meat Sweats | |
| 4 | Loco Smokers | |
| 5 | Jr's BBQ Senior | |
| 6 | JMJ | |
| 7 | Jr's BBQ | |
| 8 | Smoke Meat Not Meth |
Ancillary — Side Dish
8 entries · top 178.8800 · median 162.5544
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | We BBQ For Those Who Can't | |
| 2 | Smoke Meat Not Meth %232 | |
| 3 | Renew- 569 | |
| 4 | JMJ 2.0 | |
| 5 | Tangy Tramps BBQ | |
| 6 | Smoke Meat Not Meth | |
| 7 | JMJ | |
| 8 | Jr's BBQ |