Mar 20–21, 2026 · Kansas City, MO · 📍 1701 American Royal Court
Reps: David Dyche, Jo Dyche · Prize money: $2,000
HevyQue BBQ won Grand Champion at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off on March 20, 2026 in Kansas City, MO at 1701 American Royal Court, scoring 175.4172 in a field of 12 teams. Sofa King Awesome BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 174.8800. This is the 5th of 5 editions of this contest on record; the 2025 edition came before it.
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 66 times in 100
HevyQue BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, KC Meat Sweats, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 34-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
2 of 5 tracked editions
Go Ham BBQ has won this contest 2 times across its 5 tracked editions.
HevyQue BBQ finished 1st overall in the first contest the data has them cooking at all.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 2022 | Kansas City, MO | 1701 American Royal Court | 11 | 173.1544 | Go Ham BBQ |
| Mar 24, 2023 | Kansas City, MO | 1701 American Royal Court | — | — | — |
| Mar 22, 2024 | Kansas City, MO | 1701 American Royal Court | 10 | 180 | Go Ham BBQ |
| Mar 21, 2025 | Kansas City, MO | 1701 American Royal Court | — | — | — |
| Mar 20, 2026 ← this one | Kansas City, MO | 1701 American Royal Court | — | — | — |
12 entries · top 175.4172 · median 168.8400 · out of 180, not the usual 720
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HevyQue BBQ | |
| 2 | Sofa King Awesome BBQ | |
| 3 | SadieQ | |
| 4 | KC Meat Sweats | |
| 5 | Sasquatch Smoke N Que | |
| 6 | Nuttycocksbbq | |
| 7 | Rucking Fidiculous BBQ | |
| 8 | Wapatui Smokers | |
| 9 | SASSY SMOKE BBQ | |
| 10 | Karnivor Creations BBQ | |
| 11 | Smokesdidier bbq | |
| 12 | Smokey Bros Barbecue |
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.
12 entries · top 175.4172 · median 168.8400
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HevyQue BBQ | |
| 2 | Sofa King Awesome BBQ | |
| 3 | SadieQ | |
| 4 | KC Meat Sweats | |
| 5 | Sasquatch Smoke N Que | |
| 6 | Nuttycocksbbq | |
| 7 | Rucking Fidiculous BBQ | |
| 8 | Wapatui Smokers | |
| 9 | SASSY SMOKE BBQ | |
| 10 | Karnivor Creations BBQ | |
| 11 | Smokesdidier bbq | |
| 12 | Smokey Bros Barbecue |