Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
2024-08-17 · Fairbury, IL · 📍 Fairbury Fair Grounds
Reps: JEANNE TITUS · Prize money: $3,400.00
Grand Champion: Weez's Groovin' BBQ (354.2628) · 26 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Stone Cold Grillers
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 dynasty in the making
Weez's Groovin' BBQ has won this contest 3 times across its 5 tracked editions.
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 9–10: 309 BBQ and UP FROM THE PITS BBQ tied on 171.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 8–9: HESSHOGS edged UP FROM THE PITS BBQ by 0.0112. Pork Ribs places 3–4: Stone Cold Grillers edged WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ by 0.0116.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Weez's Groovin' BBQ (won 2022), Shmack Q (won 2023).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbury, IL | Fairbury Fair Grounds | 17 | 337.0972 | SermerStout | — | |
| 2022-08-20 | Fairbury, IL | Fairbury Fair Grounds | 20 | 341.1428 | Weez's Groovin' BBQ | — |
| 2023-08-19 | Fairbury, IL | Fairbury Fair Grounds | 32 | 342.8228 | Shmack Q | — |
| 2024-08-17 ← this one | Fairbury, IL | Fairbury Fair Grounds | 26 | 354.2628 | Weez's Groovin' BBQ | — |
| 2025-08-16 | Fairbury, IL | Fairbury Fair Grounds | 20 | 347.4400 | Weez's Groovin' BBQ | — |
| 2026-08-22 | Fairbury, IL | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 178.8572 | 173.1200 | 171.4056 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7028 | 173.1200 | 168.5828 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
26 entries · top 354.2628 · median 335.9544
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 2 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 3 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 4 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 5 | 309 BBQ | |
| 6 | Slingin Q | |
| 7 | UP FROM THE PITS BBQ | |
| 8 | Drippin Smoke | |
| 9 | Skinny Pig BBQ | |
| 10 | Shmack Q | |
| 11 | Ishy Links BBQ | |
| 12 | HESSHOGS | |
| 13 | Sky High BBQ | |
| 14 | All Smoked Up BBQ | |
| 15 | Rocket Que | |
| 16 | Big Foot BBQ | |
| 17 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 18 | Briar Ridge BBQ | |
| 19 | RUBY CREEK BBQ | |
| 20 | Sermerstout BBQ | |
| 21 | J.R. Boys BBQ | |
| 22 | Hillbilly Deluxe | |
| 23 | BS BBQ | |
| 24 | BBQ Buddies | |
| 25 | Bad Man BBQ | |
| 26 | EZ CHEW BARBECUE |
Chicken
26 entries · top 178.8572 · median 168.8170
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 2 | Drippin Smoke | |
| 3 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 4 | Slingin Q | |
| 5 | Skinny Pig BBQ | |
| 6 | Rocket Que | |
| 7 | Shmack Q | |
| 8 | Sky High BBQ | |
| 9 | 309 BBQ | |
| 10 | UP FROM THE PITS BBQ | |
| 11 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 12 | Big Foot BBQ | |
| 13 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 14 | Sermerstout BBQ | |
| 15 | All Smoked Up BBQ | |
| 16 | Hillbilly Deluxe | |
| 17 | RUBY CREEK BBQ | |
| 18 | HESSHOGS | |
| 19 | Briar Ridge BBQ | |
| 20 | Ishy Links BBQ | |
| 21 | J.R. Boys BBQ | |
| 22 | EZ CHEW BARBECUE | |
| 23 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 24 | BBQ Buddies | |
| 25 | BS BBQ | |
| 26 | Bad Man BBQ |
Pork Ribs
26 entries · top 177.7028 · median 166.8458
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 2 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 3 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 4 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 5 | 309 BBQ | |
| 6 | Ishy Links BBQ | |
| 7 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 8 | HESSHOGS | |
| 9 | UP FROM THE PITS BBQ | |
| 10 | Slingin Q | |
| 11 | All Smoked Up BBQ | |
| 12 | Shmack Q | |
| 13 | Skinny Pig BBQ | |
| 14 | Drippin Smoke | |
| 15 | Briar Ridge BBQ | |
| 16 | Big Foot BBQ | |
| 17 | Sky High BBQ | |
| 18 | Rocket Que | |
| 19 | BS BBQ | |
| 20 | RUBY CREEK BBQ | |
| 21 | J.R. Boys BBQ | |
| 22 | Bad Man BBQ | |
| 23 | BBQ Buddies | |
| 24 | Hillbilly Deluxe | |
| 25 | Sermerstout BBQ | |
| 26 | EZ CHEW BARBECUE |
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.
Kids-Q — Kids-Q (11-15)
2 entries · top 170.3088 · median 169.4344
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hillbilly Deluxe Jr - Katie | |
| 2 | BBQ Buddies - Veronica |