Prairie Dog on the Bow
2024-08-31 – 2024-09-01 · Calgary, AB · CANADA · 📍 5151 101 St. NW
Reps: BRENDA BLACK, KEN BLACK
Grand Champion: Q Cartel (690.2400) · 24 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🪒 A razor-thin finish
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.0344 points — closer than 95% of every championship in the data.
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 6–7: Honey & Hooch BBQ and Slam Dunk BBQ tied on 172.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 4–5: Kreiser Barbecue and Q Cartel tied on 173.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 7–8: Slam Dunk BBQ edged Just Smoke It! BBQ by 0.0116.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: SmellaQue (won 2019).
🃏 An upset on the books
Q Cartel came in rated below the field's top team, Colorado Bulldawg BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 22-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-09-01 | Alberta, T2P 2M2 | 5003-15 Avenue NW Calgary | 13 | 690.9256 | SmellaQue | ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ |
| 2021-09-03 | Alberta, T3B 0N2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2024-08-31 ← this one | Calgary, AB | 5151 101 St. NW | 24 | 690.2400 | Q Cartel | ARROWHEAD NORTH BBQ |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 172.5600 | 171.4056 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8572 | 174.8572 | 168.6060 |
| Pork | 177.7028 | 173.1428 | 169.7028 |
| Brisket | 178.2972 | 173.7028 | 166.2400 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
24 entries · top 690.2400 · median 673.6974
Chicken
24 entries · top 180.0000 · median 169.7200 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
24 entries · top 178.8572 · median 168.5486
Pork
24 entries · top 177.7028 · median 167.9714
Brisket
24 entries · top 178.2972 · median 162.8286