A first Grand Championship
7
tracked contests to get there
This was ZZYZX BAR.B.Q's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 7th tracked contest.
The Great American Cookoff
Jul 26–28, 2013 · Woodlake, CA
ZZYZX BAR.B.Q won Grand Champion at The Great American Cookoff on July 26, 2013 in Woodlake, CA, scoring 677.7944 in a field of 53 teams. BURNIN AND LOOTIN took Reserve Grand Champion with 674.2972. Category winners: Chicken — SLAP YO' DADDY BBQ (174.8572); Pork Ribs — ZZYZX BAR.B.Q (174.8800); Pork — ALL HOGS GO TO HEAVEN (177.7028); Brisket — BIG POPPA SMOKERS (175.4628).
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.
512.50
median 636.50
677.79 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 174.86
- Pork Ribs 174.88
- Pork 177.70
- Brisket 175.46
20
177.70
Entries
53
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
677.7944
Winning margin
3.4972
GC over RC
Field average
624.20
512.50677.79
median 636.50 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Chicken
2.8572 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
657.0972
512.50677.79
10th place overall
Field spread
165.2916
winner to last place
Double threats
3
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 91%
beats 9% of 4715 Master Series wins in the data
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.6 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,527
avg power rating going in · stronger than 20% of contests
Storylines (3 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.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 11 calls decided inside half a point
Pork Ribs places 4–5: BIG POPPA SMOKERS and PIGGY D'S BBQ tied on 168.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 5–6: PIGGY D'S BBQ and ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT tied on 168.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 9–10: LEFT COAST Q edged Roaming Bird BBQ by 0.0116.
- Pork Ribs 4–5 · tie
- Pork Ribs 5–6 · tie
- Pork Ribs 9–10 · 0.0116
- Brisket 9–10 · 0.0116
How the title was won
3 of 4
meats called to the stage
ZZYZX BAR.B.Q took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork at 15th.
- Chicken 8th
- Pork Ribs 1st
- Pork 15th
- Brisket 6th
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)
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 174.8572 | 172 | 168.0112 |
| Pork Ribs | 174.8800 | 168 | 165.6800 |
| Pork | 177.7028 | 170.8800 | 168.5600 |
| Brisket | 175.4628 | 168 | 164.5600 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
53 entries · top 677.7944 · median 636.5028
Chicken
53 entries · top 174.8572 · median 161.7144
Pork Ribs
53 entries · top 174.8800 · median 157.7028
Pork
53 entries · top 177.7028 · median 159.4172
Brisket
53 entries · top 175.4628 · median 159.3828
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.
Master Series — Dessert
20 entries · top 180 · median 161.9828 · 🔥 perfect 180