Sep 5–6, 2025 · Columbia, MO · 📍 6401 Highway 40 W · State championship
Reps: Bunny Tuttle, Rich Tuttle · Prize money: $6,400
Ambition Que won Grand Champion at the Buds Blues and BBQ on September 5, 2025 in Columbia, MO at 6401 Highway 40 W, scoring 697.0972 in a field of 9 teams. OnlyCans Competition BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 696.5144. Category winners: Chicken — Low Eye Que (178.8572); Pork Ribs — Ambition Que (177.7144); Pork — MEMPHIS ORIGINAL BBQ (176.0000); Brisket — OnlyCans Competition BBQ (178.8572). The Backyard Series standings were won by Fire Pig with 352.5600. This is the 3rd of 4 editions of this contest on record; the 2024 edition was won by There's No Place Like Smoke; the next was held in 2025.
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
What it has taken to win here, 2024 to 2025 — this edition picked out.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
Closer than 89% of the 4,713 championships in the data
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.5828 points — closer than 89% of every championship in the data.
697.0972 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 692.4800 Shake 'N Bake BBQ set in 2024.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 72 times in 100
Ambition Que came in rated below the field's top team, Too Sauced BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 28-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
This was AMBITION QUE's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 95th tracked contest.
Master Series — Chicken places 1–2: Low Eye Que and Dr. Squealgood BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Master Series — Pork Ribs places 7–8: Low Eye Que edged Take It Easy BBQ by 0.0116. Master Series — Pork places 6–7: OnlyCans Competition BBQ edged Ambition Que by 0.0116.
Ambition Que took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork at 7th.
OnlyCans Competition BBQ turned in 178.8572 in brisket — past the 176.0000 that had stood across 2 earlier editions.
What happened at this contest that stands in the all-time KCBS record book. A gold line is a record nobody has beaten.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 13, 2024 | Columbia, MO | 6401 Highway 40 W | 16 | 692.4800 | Shake 'N Bake BBQ | THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE SMOKE |
| Sep 13, 2024 | Columbia, MO | 6401 Highway 40 W | 5 | 177.7028 | There's No Place Like Smoke | — |
| Sep 5, 2025 ← this one | Columbia, MO | 6401 Highway 40 W | 9 | 697.0972 | AMBITION QUE | OnlyCans Competition BBQ |
| Sep 5, 2025 | Columbia, MO | 6401 Highway 40 W | 7 | 177.1428 | ALL FIRED UP AND KICKIN ASH | — |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Series — Chicken | 178.8572 | 173.7144 | — |
| Master Series — Pork Ribs | 177.7144 | 173.1084 | — |
| Master Series — Pork | 176 | 171.4172 | — |
| Master Series — Brisket | 178.8572 | 170.8228 | — |
| Backyard Series — Chicken | 177.7144 | 171.4172 | 159.3944 |
| Backyard Series — Pork Ribs | 176 | 168 | 158.8000 |
9 entries · top 697.0972 · median 687.8968
9 entries · top 178.8572 · median 173.7144
9 entries · top 177.7144 · median 173.1084
9 entries · top 176 · median 171.4172
9 entries · top 178.8572 · median 170.8228
10 entries · top 352.5600 · median 337.9714
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fire Pig | |
| 2 | Too Sauced BBQ | |
| 3 | HESSHOGS | |
| 4 | BBQ Pit Bros | |
| 5 | Chester's Twisted Que | |
| 6 | Smoked By The Brooks | |
| 7 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 8 | Big Reds Backyard BBQ | |
| 9 | ROLLING SMOKE BBQ | |
| 10 | SHOOTING THE BREEZE |
10 entries · top 177.7144 · median 170.2686
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Too Sauced BBQ | |
| 2 | Fire Pig | |
| 3 | HESSHOGS | |
| 4 | BBQ Pit Bros | |
| 5 | Chester's Twisted Que | |
| 6 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 7 | Big Reds Backyard BBQ | |
| 8 | Smoked By The Brooks | |
| 9 | SHOOTING THE BREEZE | |
| 10 | ROLLING SMOKE BBQ |
10 entries · top 176 · median 167.9886
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fire Pig | |
| 2 | Too Sauced BBQ | |
| 3 | Chester's Twisted Que | |
| 4 | BBQ Pit Bros | |
| 5 | HESSHOGS | |
| 6 | ROLLING SMOKE BBQ | |
| 7 | Smoked By The Brooks | |
| 8 | Big Reds Backyard BBQ | |
| 9 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 10 | SHOOTING THE BREEZE |