A new contest record
685.0968
highest overall ever cooked here
685.0968 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 677.1432 GILLY'S BBQ set in 2013.
- old record 677.1432
- set 2013 by GILLY'S BBQ
Firin' Up the Fox BBQ Contest 2014
Jul 11–12, 2014 · St. Charles, IL
CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM won Grand Champion at the Firin' Up the Fox BBQ Contest on July 11, 2014 in St. Charles, IL, scoring 685.0968 in a field of 34 teams. iBQ'n took Reserve Grand Champion with 681.6800. Category winners: Chicken — SMOKY LINCS (178.3200); Pork Ribs — MUD'S BBQ (172.0000); Pork — ALL IN QUE (177.7144); Brisket — iBQ'n (177.1428). This is the 2nd of 2 editions of this contest on record; the 2013 edition was won by GILLY'S BBQ.
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.
477.09
median 646.46
685.10 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 178.32
- Pork Ribs 172
- Pork 177.71
- Brisket 177.14
20
178.32
Entries
34
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
685.0968
Winning margin
3.4168
GC over RC
Field average
631.32
477.09685.10
median 646.46 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
3.9884 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
657.5880
477.09685.10
10th place overall
Field spread
208.0112
winner to last place
Double threats
6
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 82%
beats 18% of 4714 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
24%
8 of 34 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.46 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,513
avg power rating going in · stronger than 9% of contests
Storylines (4 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.
Won without a category win
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 2nd. Consistency beat fireworks.
- Chicken 2nd
- Pork Ribs 2nd
- Pork 2nd
- Brisket 8th
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 11 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 4–5: MUD'S BBQ and T-BAUM BBQ tied on 170.8228 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 6–7: iBQ'n and RACK MASTERS BBQ tied on 167.9772 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 7–8: The BBQ JEDI and CAPTAIN RON'S BREW-N-QUE tied on 167.9772 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
- Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie
- Pork 7–8 · tie
- Pork 9–10 · tie
A contest record in chicken
178.3200
best chicken ever cooked here
SMOKY LINCS turned in 178.3200 in chicken — past the 174.2858 that had stood across 1 earlier editions.
- old best 174.2858
- across 1 past editions
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 2013 | St. Charles, IL | St. Charles, IL | 34 | 677.1432 | GILLY'S BBQ | BREW-B-Q |
| Jul 11, 2014 ← this one | St. Charles, IL | St. Charles, IL | 34 | 685.0968 | CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM | iBQ'n |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 178.3200 | 170.8228 | 166.8800 |
| Pork Ribs | 172 | 168.0116 | 166.2972 |
| Pork | 177.7144 | 168.5944 | 167.9656 |
| Brisket | 177.1428 | 167.9656 | 163.9544 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
34 entries · top 685.0968 · median 646.4628
Chicken
33 entries · top 178.3200 · median 161.1656
Pork Ribs
34 entries · top 172 · median 161.1200
Pork
34 entries · top 177.7144 · median 163.1258
Brisket
34 entries · top 177.1428 · median 158.5544
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
7 entries · top 176 · median 168.5600
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAPTAIN RON'S BREW-N-QUE | |
| 2 | DESIGNATED SMOKIN' AREA | |
| 3 | ROLL THE BONES BBQ | |
| 4 | SOUTHERN SPICE BBQ | |
| 5 | Steamboat BBQ | |
| 6 | CADILLAC JACK'S | |
| 7 | R & R HAWAIIAN B.B.Q |