A new contest record
701.6456
highest overall ever cooked here
701.6456 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 673.1200 Boars Night Out set in 2014.
- old record 673.1200
- set 2014 by Boars Night Out
Smoke on the Mountain - VA State BBQ Championship 2015
Jul 17–18, 2015 · Galax, VA
Q-BONES BBQ won Grand Champion at the Smoke on the Mountain - VA State BBQ Championship on July 17, 2015 in Galax, VA, scoring 701.6456 in a field of 29 teams. VICTORY LANE BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 693.6916. Category winners: Chicken — VICTORY LANE BBQ (177.7372); Pork Ribs — SWEET N SASSY BBQ COMPANY (173.7144); Pork — SAUCED! BBQ TEAM (180.0000); Brisket — Q-BONES BBQ (177.7028). This is the 3rd of 4 editions of this contest on record; the 2014 edition was won by Boars Night Out; the next was held in 2016.
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.
607.17
median 663.93
701.65 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 177.74
- Pork Ribs 173.71
- Pork 180 🔥
- Brisket 177.70
138.18
180
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2013 to 2016 — this edition picked out.
Entries
29
4 judged meats
Top score
701.6456
Winning margin
7.9540
GC over RC
Field average
660.30
607.17701.65
median 663.93 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Chicken
2.8916 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
671.8976
607.17701.65
10th place overall
Field spread
94.4800
winner to last place
Double threats
4
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 27%
beats 73% of 4714 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
37%
11 of 30 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.81 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,560
avg power rating going in · stronger than 46% of contests
Storylines (6 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
Chicken places 7–8: MYRON MIXON SMOKERS .COM and CONTAGIOUS Q tied on 172.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 6–7: SERIAL GRILLER and STILL WORKIN' ON IT BBQ tied on 169.7144 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 9–10: CONTAGIOUS Q and HOLY SMOKE BBQ-NC tied on 167.9772 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 7–8 · tie
- Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie
- Brisket 9–10 · tie
- Pork Ribs 9–10 · 0.0116
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
Q-BONES BBQ took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork at 5th.
- Chicken 2nd
- Pork Ribs 4th
- Pork 5th
- Brisket 1st
A contest record in pork
180.0000
best pork ever cooked here
SAUCED! BBQ TEAM turned in 180.0000 in pork — past the 172.0000 that had stood across 2 earlier editions.
- old best 172.0000
- across 2 past editions
Back to defend
2
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: FIRED UP SMOKERS (won 2013), Boars Night Out (won 2014).
- FIRED UP SMOKERS · 2013
- Boars Night Out · 2014
A perfect score on the table
1
perfect 180s
1 perfect 180 was scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- SAUCED! BBQ TEAM · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2013 | Galax, VA | Galax, VA | 16 | 673.0512 | FIRED UP SMOKERS | Boars Night Out |
| Jul 18, 2014 | Galax, VA | Galax, VA 24333 | 30 | 673.1200 | Boars Night Out | ROCK'S MONEY PIT BBQ |
| Jul 17, 2015 ← this one | Galax, VA | Galax, VA 24333 | 29 | 701.6456 | Q-BONES BBQ | VICTORY LANE BBQ |
| Jul 15, 2016 | Galax, VA | Downtown city of Galax | 25 | 690.7540 | CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ | CONTAGIOUS Q |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.7372 | 174.8456 | 169.7256 |
| Pork Ribs | 173.7144 | 170.2744 | 169.1200 |
| Pork | 180 | 174.2628 | 170.2628 |
| Brisket | 177.7028 | 173.1544 | 167.9772 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
29 entries · top 701.6456 · median 663.9312
Chicken
29 entries · top 177.7372 · median 165.7028
Pork Ribs
29 entries · top 173.7144 · median 166.2284
Pork
29 entries · top 180 · median 168.5256 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
29 entries · top 177.7028 · median 166.2400