WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
2025-10-17 – 2025-10-18 · Huntsville, AL · 📍 1030 Mid City Drive
Reps: CAROL BIGLER, RANDY G BIGLER · Prize money: $4,300.00
Grand Champion: Hickory Hangover (354.2744) · 39 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Serial Grillers
Entries
39
2 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
354.2744
Winning margin
1.1544
GC over RC
Field average
327.37
median 334.87
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Chicken
1.1544 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
345.1088
10th place overall
Field spread
192.6060
winner to last place
Prize money
$4,300.00
on the line
How hot was the win?
Top 31%
beats 69% of 708 Backyard Series wins in the data
Traveled in
10%
of the 39 teams with a home region came from outside AL
Came back for more
40%
20 of 50 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.35 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1529
avg power rating going in · stronger than 34% of contests
Storylines
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 1–2: Electro-Que-ted and HICKORY HANGOVER tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 2–3: HICKORY HANGOVER and Wee Daddy's BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 6–7: Smoke'Em All and Serial Grillers tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
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)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-18 | Huntsville, AL | Mid-City District | 50 | 358.2972 | Deviant Smoke | — |
| 2025-10-17 ← this one | Huntsville, AL | 1030 Mid City Drive | 39 | 354.2744 | Hickory Hangover | — |
| 2026-10-16 | Huntsville, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 178.8572 | 177.7028 | 170.8456 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8800 | 175.4516 | 173.7372 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
39 entries · top 354.2744 · median 334.8688
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HICKORY HANGOVER | |
| 2 | Serial Grillers | |
| 3 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 4 | Gustoso BBQ | |
| 5 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 6 | Hensel Phelps | |
| 7 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 8 | LEE LA Q | |
| 9 | Smoke Rings & BBQ Dreams | |
| 10 | Los Diablos | |
| 11 | Smoke'Em All | |
| 12 | GSP Barbecue | |
| 13 | Window World | |
| 14 | All Things Covered in Smoke | |
| 15 | Smokeaholics | |
| 16 | Big Back BBQ | |
| 17 | Say My Name BBQ | |
| 18 | Coldwater Creek | |
| 19 | Beefis and Butthead | |
| 20 | You Don't Win Friends with Salad | |
| 21 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 22 | Blood, Sweat, & Titos | |
| 23 | Slice to Meat You | |
| 24 | SportsPage Smokers | |
| 25 | Big Beautiful BBQ | |
| 26 | Just For Fun BBQ | |
| 27 | El Heffe Q | |
| 28 | PIG'N AND CHICK'N | |
| 29 | Boob-B-Q | |
| 30 | Boar on the Floor | |
| 31 | Butt Dust Backyard BBQ | |
| 32 | Limp Brizkit | |
| 33 | Last Place Chicken | |
| 34 | RFCU SMOKE WHISPERERS | |
| 35 | A BBQ Team Divided | |
| 36 | TWO CATS | |
| 37 | Boss Hawgs | |
| 38 | 4th and Pork | |
| 39 | Last Place Last Year |
Chicken
38 entries · top 178.8572 · median 168.5428
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 2 | HICKORY HANGOVER | |
| 3 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 4 | Gustoso BBQ | |
| 5 | Say My Name BBQ | |
| 6 | Smoke'Em All | |
| 7 | Serial Grillers | |
| 8 | Los Diablos | |
| 9 | LEE LA Q | |
| 10 | Hensel Phelps | |
| 11 | GSP Barbecue | |
| 12 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 13 | Beefis and Butthead | |
| 14 | Slice to Meat You | |
| 15 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 16 | Smoke Rings & BBQ Dreams | |
| 17 | Smokeaholics | |
| 18 | Boar on the Floor | |
| 19 | Window World | |
| 20 | Big Back BBQ | |
| 21 | PIG'N AND CHICK'N | |
| 22 | All Things Covered in Smoke | |
| 23 | You Don't Win Friends with Salad | |
| 24 | Big Beautiful BBQ | |
| 25 | SportsPage Smokers | |
| 26 | Blood, Sweat, & Titos | |
| 27 | Last Place Chicken | |
| 28 | Butt Dust Backyard BBQ | |
| 29 | RFCU SMOKE WHISPERERS | |
| 30 | A BBQ Team Divided | |
| 31 | El Heffe Q | |
| 32 | Boss Hawgs | |
| 33 | Just For Fun BBQ | |
| 34 | Last Place Last Year | |
| 35 | Boob-B-Q | |
| 36 | Coldwater Creek | |
| 37 | Limp Brizkit | |
| 38 | TWO CATS |
Pork Ribs
38 entries · top 178.8800 · median 169.1258
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 2 | Hensel Phelps | |
| 3 | Coldwater Creek | |
| 4 | Serial Grillers | |
| 5 | Smoke Rings & BBQ Dreams | |
| 6 | HICKORY HANGOVER | |
| 7 | LEE LA Q | |
| 8 | All Things Covered in Smoke | |
| 9 | Gustoso BBQ | |
| 10 | Window World | |
| 11 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 12 | GSP Barbecue | |
| 13 | Big Back BBQ | |
| 14 | Smokeaholics | |
| 15 | Los Diablos | |
| 16 | You Don't Win Friends with Salad | |
| 17 | Limp Brizkit | |
| 18 | Just For Fun BBQ | |
| 19 | El Heffe Q | |
| 20 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 21 | Blood, Sweat, & Titos | |
| 22 | Smoke'Em All | |
| 23 | 4th and Pork | |
| 24 | SportsPage Smokers | |
| 25 | Boob-B-Q | |
| 26 | Big Beautiful BBQ | |
| 27 | TWO CATS | |
| 28 | Beefis and Butthead | |
| 29 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 30 | Slice to Meat You | |
| 31 | Butt Dust Backyard BBQ | |
| 32 | Say My Name BBQ | |
| 33 | PIG'N AND CHICK'N | |
| 34 | Boar on the Floor | |
| 35 | RFCU SMOKE WHISPERERS | |
| 36 | Last Place Chicken | |
| 37 | A BBQ Team Divided | |
| 38 | Boss Hawgs |
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 — Dessert
8 entries · top 180.0000 · median 173.1314 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angie Siddiqui | |
| 2 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 3 | Big Back BBQ | |
| 4 | Slice to Meat You | |
| 5 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 6 | LEE LA Q | |
| 7 | Bethany Brown | |
| 8 | All Things Covered in Smoke |