A first Grand Championship
22
tracked contests to get there
This was Luna Smoke - Italy's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 22nd tracked contest.
Fo.G & Smoke 2025
Sep 20–21, 2025 · Spilamberto, Italy · ITALY · 📍 Modena
Reps: Luca Famigli, Roberto Sirok
LUNA SMOKE - Italy won Grand Champion at the Fo.G & Smoke 2025 on September 20, 2025 in Spilamberto, I-41057 at Modena, scoring 697.6456 in a field of 24 teams. Woodquarter Smokerheads took Reserve Grand Champion with 692.5028. Category winners: Chicken — LUNA SMOKE - Italy (180.0000); Pork Ribs — Skinny Beans BBQ team (178.8572); Pork — LUNA SMOKE - Italy (180.0000); Brisket — Woodquarter Smokerheads (175.4172). This is the 3rd of 4 editions of this contest on record; the 2023 edition was won by Cooklounge 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.
569.22
median 675.61
697.65 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 180 🔥
- Pork Ribs 178.86
- Pork 180 🔥
- Brisket 175.42
122.30
180
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2022 to 2026 — this edition picked out.
Entries
24
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
697.6456
Winning margin
5.1428
GC over RC
Field average
662.26
569.22697.65
median 675.61 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
4.5944 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
678.1940
569.22697.65
10th place overall
Field spread
128.4228
winner to last place
Double threats
5
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 44%
beats 56% of 4711 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
33%
5 of 15 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.48 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,527
avg power rating going in · stronger than 20% 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.
A dynasty in the making
2×
wins at this contest
2 of 4 tracked editions
Cooklounge BBQ has won this contest 2 times across its 4 tracked editions.
- 2022
- 2023
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 7 calls decided inside half a point
Pork Ribs places 4–5: Smoky Cotte and SOUTH BRIXIA tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 4–5: SCHLUCHTENGRILLER BBQ and Woodquarter Smokerheads tied on 175.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 9–10: Art Razza Piave Bbq and the north brianza bbq smokers tied on 166.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Pork Ribs 4–5 · tie
- Pork 4–5 · tie
- Brisket 9–10 · tie
- Pork 6–7 · 0.0112
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
LUNA SMOKE - Italy won Chicken, Pork — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork 1st
How the title was won
3 of 4
meats called to the stage
LUNA SMOKE - Italy took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 2 outright wins — their weakest board was brisket at 12th.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 6th
- Pork 1st
- Brisket 12th
A contest record in pork ribs
178.8572
best pork ribs ever cooked here
Skinny Beans BBQ team turned in 178.8572 in pork ribs — past the 174.8572 that had stood across 2 earlier editions.
- old best 174.8572
- across 2 past editions
The biggest field yet
24
teams — a contest high
This contest usually draws about 14 teams
24 teams is the deepest field this contest has drawn in the data, against a typical 14.
The contest returns
2 yrs
since the last edition
This contest was away for 2 years — the previous tracked edition ran on 2023-09-16.
- previous edition 2023-09-16
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.
- LUNA SMOKE - Italy · Chicken
- LUNA SMOKE - Italy · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2022 | Spilamberto, Mo | Spilamberto, Mo | 12 | 697.7372 | Cooklounge BBQ | WESTSIDE BBQ |
| Sep 16, 2023 | Spilamberto, It | Spilamberto, It | 15 | 694.2172 | Cooklounge BBQ | LUNA SMOKE - Italy |
| Sep 20, 2025 ← this one | Spilamberto | Modena | 24 | 697.6456 | Luna Smoke - Italy | Woodquarter Smokerheads |
| Sep 19, 2026 | Spilamberto | Modena | 22 | 705.1088 | Luna Smoke - Italy | Average Joe BBQ Team |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180 | 174.8800 | 170.8456 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8572 | 174.2628 | 168.5256 |
| Pork | 180 | 175.4056 | 171.9656 |
| Brisket | 175.4172 | 169.6800 | 166.2628 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
24 entries · top 697.6456 · median 675.6056
Chicken
24 entries · top 180 · median 169.6914 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
24 entries · top 178.8572 · median 165.1200
Pork
24 entries · top 180 · median 171.1428 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
24 entries · top 175.4172 · median 165.1086
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 — Mistery Box
9 entries · top 177.7028 · median 174.2856
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Cinghiali | |
| 2 | SCHLUCHTENGRILLER BBQ | |
| 3 | BBQ Hot Yard | |
| 4 | Smoking Butcher | |
| 5 | Jack & Place | |
| 6 | Art Razza Piave Bbq | |
| 7 | IT'S THE SAME OLD MEAT | |
| 8 | the north brianza bbq smokers | |
| 9 | Belli & Magrill |