A razor-thin finish
0.0112
points between champion and reserve
Closer than 99% of the 4,722 championships in the data
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.0112 points — closer than 99% of every championship in the data.
- 501 BBQ
- SURVIVOR-QUE
Smokin on the White 2017
Sep 15–16, 2017 · Batesville, AR · 📍 Riverside Park
501 BBQ won Grand Champion at the Smokin on the White on September 15, 2017 in Batesville, AR at Riverside Park, scoring 689.0740 in a field of 17 teams. SURVIVOR-QUE took Reserve Grand Champion with 689.0628. Category winners: Chicken — ALL Q'UED UP! (179.4400); Pork Ribs — SURVIVOR-QUE (175.4172); Pork — FIRE DANCER BBQ (174.8456); Brisket — DAD'S GRILLIN CREW (175.4056). This is the 1st of 3 editions of this contest on record; the next was held in 2018.
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.
614.71
median 662.78
689.07 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 179.44
- Pork Ribs 175.42
- Pork 174.85
- Brisket 175.41
143.37
179.44
Entries
17
4 judged meats · 4 ancillary
Top score
689.0740
Winning margin
0.0112
GC over RC
Field average
659.50
614.71689.07
median 662.78 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Brisket
1.1428 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
662.1368
614.71689.07
10th place overall
Field spread
74.3656
winner to last place
Double threats
7
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 74%
beats 26% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.66 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,556
avg power rating going in · stronger than 43% of contests
Storylines (5 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.
An upset on the books
26-in-100
shot on pre-contest ratings
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 74 times in 100
501 BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, FIRE DANCER BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 26-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
- champion 1621
- top seed 1805
Won without a category win
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
501 BBQ won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 2nd. Consistency beat fireworks.
- Chicken 2nd
- Pork Ribs 9th
- Pork 3rd
- Brisket 3rd
A first Grand Championship
18
tracked contests to get there
This was 501 BBQ's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 18th tracked contest.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 7 calls decided inside half a point
Brisket places 1–2: DAD'S GRILLIN CREW and BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA tied on 175.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 7–8: POP SMOKE BBQ and ALL Q'UED UP! tied on 166.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 3–4: ALL Q'UED UP! edged POP SMOKE BBQ by 0.0116.
- Brisket 1–2 · tie
- Brisket 7–8 · tie
- Pork Ribs 3–4 · 0.0116
- Brisket 9–10 · 0.0228
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 15, 2017 ← this one | Batesville, AR | Riverside Park | 17 | 689.0740 | 501 BBQ | SURVIVOR-QUE |
| Sep 7, 2018 | Batesville, AR | Riverside Park | 17 | 683.9884 | FIRE DANCER BBQ | RAZORRACKS |
| Sep 9, 2022 | Batesville, AR | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 179.4400 | 170.2628 | 165.1200 |
| Pork Ribs | 175.4172 | 169.6684 | 159.3716 |
| Pork | 174.8456 | 171.4056 | 165.7028 |
| Brisket | 175.4056 | 174.2628 | 165.0972 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
17 entries · top 689.0740 · median 662.7768
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 501 BBQ | |
| 2 | SURVIVOR-QUE | |
| 3 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 4 | FIRE DANCER BBQ | |
| 5 | RAZORRACKS | |
| 6 | DAD'S GRILLIN CREW | |
| 7 | BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA | |
| 8 | SLADES BBQ | |
| 9 | POP SMOKE BBQ | |
| 10 | SMOKIN THROUGH THE NIGHT | |
| 11 | BBQR'S DELIGHT | |
| 12 | HOLY SMOKE | |
| 13 | PARTY Q | |
| 14 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! | |
| 15 | SOUTH - PORK BBQ | |
| 16 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE | |
| 17 | FOOD GEEK, INC. |
Chicken
17 entries · top 179.4400 · median 166.8228
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 2 | 501 BBQ | |
| 3 | FIRE DANCER BBQ | |
| 4 | BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA | |
| 5 | SLADES BBQ | |
| 6 | DAD'S GRILLIN CREW | |
| 7 | SMOKIN THROUGH THE NIGHT | |
| 8 | HOLY SMOKE | |
| 9 | SURVIVOR-QUE | |
| 10 | RAZORRACKS | |
| 11 | POP SMOKE BBQ | |
| 12 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! | |
| 13 | SOUTH - PORK BBQ | |
| 14 | BBQR'S DELIGHT | |
| 15 | PARTY Q | |
| 16 | FOOD GEEK, INC. | |
| 17 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE |
Pork Ribs
17 entries · top 175.4172 · median 165.1084
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SURVIVOR-QUE | |
| 2 | RAZORRACKS | |
| 3 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 4 | POP SMOKE BBQ | |
| 5 | FIRE DANCER BBQ | |
| 6 | DAD'S GRILLIN CREW | |
| 7 | SMOKIN THROUGH THE NIGHT | |
| 8 | BBQR'S DELIGHT | |
| 9 | 501 BBQ | |
| 10 | PARTY Q | |
| 11 | BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA | |
| 12 | HOLY SMOKE | |
| 13 | SLADES BBQ | |
| 14 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE | |
| 15 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! | |
| 16 | SOUTH - PORK BBQ | |
| 17 | FOOD GEEK, INC. |
Pork
17 entries · top 174.8456 · median 165.7716
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIRE DANCER BBQ | |
| 2 | RAZORRACKS | |
| 3 | 501 BBQ | |
| 4 | SURVIVOR-QUE | |
| 5 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 6 | BBQR'S DELIGHT | |
| 7 | SOUTH - PORK BBQ | |
| 8 | HOLY SMOKE | |
| 9 | SLADES BBQ | |
| 10 | BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA | |
| 11 | PARTY Q | |
| 12 | POP SMOKE BBQ | |
| 13 | DAD'S GRILLIN CREW | |
| 14 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! | |
| 15 | SMOKIN THROUGH THE NIGHT | |
| 16 | FOOD GEEK, INC. | |
| 17 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE |
Brisket
17 entries · top 175.4056 · median 165.1200
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAD'S GRILLIN CREW | |
| 2 | BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA | |
| 3 | 501 BBQ | |
| 4 | SLADES BBQ | |
| 5 | SURVIVOR-QUE | |
| 6 | SMOKIN THROUGH THE NIGHT | |
| 7 | POP SMOKE BBQ | |
| 8 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 9 | BBQR'S DELIGHT | |
| 10 | FIRE DANCER BBQ | |
| 11 | RAZORRACKS | |
| 12 | FOOD GEEK, INC. | |
| 13 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE | |
| 14 | PARTY Q | |
| 15 | HOLY SMOKE | |
| 16 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! | |
| 17 | SOUTH - PORK BBQ |
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 — 1 Bite Wonders
6 entries · top 176.5600 · median 167.9828
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 2 | SMOKIN THROUGH THE NIGHT | |
| 3 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE | |
| 4 | PARTY Q | |
| 5 | FOOD GEEK, INC. | |
| 6 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! |
Master Series — Beans
3 entries · top 171.4056 · median 169.7028
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DRUMMIN' UP SOME Q! | |
| 2 | FOOD GEEK, INC. | |
| 3 | CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE |
Master Series — Desserts
4 entries · top 176.5600 · median 173.1314
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SURVIVOR-QUE | |
| 2 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 3 | PARTY Q | |
| 4 | FOOD GEEK, INC. |
Master Series — Sauce
4 entries · top 170.8228 · median 160.5772
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOLY SMOKE | |
| 2 | PARTY Q | |
| 3 | ALL Q'UED UP! | |
| 4 | FOOD GEEK, INC. |