A day of perfect scores
3
perfect 180s
3 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- SMOKIN BUTT CREW · Brisket
- HOT COLE'S BBQ · Chicken
- SOUTH PORK · Pork
The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ
2015-05-01 – 2015-05-02 · Huntsville, AL · 📍 Huntsville, AL 35801
Grand Champion: SMOKE ME SILLY (701.6456) · 63 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 SOUTH PORK
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.
607.79
median 662.70
701.65 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 180.00 🔥
- Pork Ribs 177.70
- Pork 180.00 🔥
- Brisket 180.00 🔥
136.97
180.00
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2014 to 2019 — this edition picked out.
Entries
63
4 judged meats · 3 ancillary
Top score
701.6456
Winning margin
2.8340
GC over RC
Field average
660.54
607.79701.65
median 662.70 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
2.2972 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
689.6112
607.79701.65
10th place overall
Field spread
93.8512
winner to last place
Double threats
4
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 27%
beats 73% of 4707 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
56%
35 of 62 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.71 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1528
avg power rating going in · stronger than 20% of contests
Storylines (7 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
3×
wins at this contest
3 of 6 tracked editions
SMOKE ME SILLY has won this contest 3 times across its 6 tracked editions.
- 2015
- 2017
- 2018
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 14 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 2–3: SOUTH PORK and WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS tied on 177.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 5–6: JIGGY PIGGY and Organizer Portal tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 9–10: SOUTHERN STILES BBQ and Butts Bellies & Buddies Too tied on 174.2744 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Chicken 5–6 · tie
- Chicken 9–10 · tie
- Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
Organizer Portal took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was brisket at 9th.
- Chicken 6th
- Pork Ribs 1st
- Pork 7th
- Brisket 9th
A contest record in pork ribs
177.7028
best pork ribs ever cooked here
Organizer Portal turned in 177.7028 in pork ribs — past the 176.5600 that had stood across 1 earlier editions.
- old best 176.5600
- across 1 past editions
Back to defend
1
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Pig Time BBQ (won 2014).
- Pig Time BBQ · 2014
One of the big ones
63
teams on the grounds
Bigger than 94% of the 5,410 contests in the data
63 teams made this a bigger field than 94% of every contest tracked.
This contest's own records (1 in the KCBS record book)
Records held by every edition of this contest put together, not just this one afternoon.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-05-02 | Huntsville, AL | Huntsville, AL 35801 | 62 | 702.2400 | Pig Time BBQ | Organizer Portal |
| 2015-05-01 ← this one | Huntsville, AL | Huntsville, AL 35801 | 63 | 701.6456 | SMOKE ME SILLY | SOUTH PORK |
| 2016-05-06 | Huntsville, AL | Huntsville, AL 35801 | 67 | 701.6800 | WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS | Organizer Portal |
| 2017-05-05 | Huntsville, AL | Church Street | 69 | 703.4404 | SMOKE ME SILLY | HOT COLE'S BBQ |
| 2018-05-04 | Huntsville, AL | Church Street | 61 | 703.9428 | SMOKE ME SILLY | THE SPECIALISTS |
| 2019-05-03 | Huntsville, AL | Church Street | 54 | 698.2284 | South Pork | Organizer Portal |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 176.5600 | 174.2744 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7028 | 175.4056 | 173.7028 |
| Pork | 180.0000 | 173.1428 | 172.5600 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 177.7028 | 174.2628 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
63 entries · top 701.6456 · median 662.6968
Chicken
63 entries · top 180.0000 · median 166.2284 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
63 entries · top 177.7028 · median 166.2284
Pork
63 entries · top 180.0000 · median 167.9656 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
63 entries · top 180.0000 · median 163.9312 · 🔥 perfect 180
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 — Backyard Championship
70 entries · top 330.8228 · median 303.6856
Master Series — Backyard Chicken
69 entries · top 171.4628 · median 151.9656
Master Series — Backyard Ribs
70 entries · top 169.1544 · median 153.7028