A new contest record
705.7028
highest overall ever cooked here
705.7028 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 703.4172 BOOMERANG BBQ set in 2018.
- old record 703.4172
- set 2018 by BOOMERANG BBQ
Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championship 2025
Aug 15–16, 2025 · Lubbock, TX · 📍 1308 Indiana Ave · State championship
Reps: Eugene Wickham, Larry Voth, Lynda Voth, Sarah Wickham · Prize money: $11,525
Smoked & Furious won Grand Champion at the Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championship on August 15, 2025 in Lubbock, TX at 1308 Indiana Ave, scoring 705.7028 in a field of 55 teams. TCB BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 703.4056. Category winners: Chicken — HIGH DESERT HOLY SMOKE BBQ (178.8572); Pork Ribs — Rafter C BBQ (178.8572); Pork — BOOMERANG BBQ (180.0000); Brisket — Smoked & Furious (180.0000). This is the 4th of 5 editions of this contest on record; the 2018 edition was won by BOOMERANG BBQ; the next was held in 2026.
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.
285.75
median 664.96
705.70 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 178.86
- Pork Ribs 178.86
- Pork 180 🔥
- Brisket 180 🔥
123.43
180
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2016 to 2026 — this edition picked out.
Entries
55
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
705.7028
Winning margin
2.2972
GC over RC
Field average
645.43
285.75705.70
median 664.96 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Chicken
2.2972 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
690.7768
285.75705.70
10th place overall
Field spread
419.9540
winner to last place
Prize money
$11,525
on the line
Double threats
5
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 12%
beats 88% of 4711 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
11%
6 of 54 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.71 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,543
avg power rating going in · stronger than 32% of contests
Storylines (9 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.
An upset on the books
21-in-100
shot on pre-contest ratings
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 79 times in 100
Smoked & Furious came in rated below the field's top team, BOOMERANG BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 21-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
- champion 1703
- top seed 1936
A rookie on the podium
3rd
at their first tracked contest
Rafter C BBQ finished 3rd overall in the first contest the data has them cooking at all.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 14 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 1–2: HIGH DESERT HOLY SMOKE BBQ and LAA Liar's Cove 2 tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: BULL IN THE RING and Smokin' G Q tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 6–7: TCB BBQ and Big Boys BBQ tied on 176.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 1–2 · tie
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
- Chicken 6–7 · tie
- Pork Ribs 1–2 · tie
How the title was won
3 of 4
meats called to the stage
Smoked & Furious took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was chicken at 15th.
- Chicken 15th
- Pork Ribs 10th
- Pork 2nd
- Brisket 1st
A contest record in pork
180.0000
best pork ever cooked here
BOOMERANG BBQ turned in 180.0000 in pork — past the 179.4400 that had stood across 3 earlier editions.
- old best 179.4400
- across 3 past editions
Back to defend
1
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: BOOMERANG BBQ (won 2018).
- BOOMERANG BBQ · 2018
The contest returns
7 yrs
since the last edition
This contest was away for 7 years — the previous tracked edition ran on 2018-08-24.
- previous edition 2018-08-24
A perfect score on the table
2
perfect 180s
2 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- Smoked & Furious · Brisket
- BOOMERANG BBQ · Pork
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)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2016 | Lubbock, TX | 1308 Indiana Ave | 72 | 700.5712 | SLAPS BBQ | SLAP YO' DADDY BBQ |
| Aug 25, 2017 | Lubbock, TX | 1308 Indiana Ave | 44 | 698.2628 | Outdoor Chef | BOOMERANG BBQ |
| Aug 24, 2018 | Lubbock, TX | 1308 Indiana Ave | 54 | 703.4172 | BOOMERANG BBQ | KISS MY RACK |
| Aug 15, 2025 ← this one | Lubbock, TX | 1308 Indiana Ave | 55 | 705.7028 | Smoked & Furious | TCB BBQ |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Lubbock, TX | 1308 Indiana Ave | 51 | 706.2628 | TINY E BBQ | God's Country BBQ |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 178.8572 | 176.5600 | 174.8800 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8572 | 176.5600 | 175.4400 |
| Pork | 180 | 176 | 174.2972 |
| Brisket | 180 | 174.8572 | 172.5828 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
55 entries · top 705.7028 · median 664.9592
Chicken
55 entries · top 178.8572 · median 167.3828
Pork Ribs
55 entries · top 178.8572 · median 167.9656
Pork
53 entries · top 180 · median 167.9540 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
52 entries · top 180 · median 163.4342 · 🔥 perfect 180
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 — Ribeye Steak
44 entries · top 179.4400 · median 169.1314