Sep 22–23, 2017 · Pikeville, TN · 📍 Alan P Deakins Rd
UNDER THE RADAR won Grand Champion at the Smoke in the Valley on September 22, 2017 in Pikeville, TN at Alan P Deakins Rd, scoring 706.2400 in a field of 19 teams. SMOKE ON THIS took Reserve Grand Champion with 705.6684. Category winners: Chicken — UNDER THE RADAR (180.0000); Pork Ribs — SMOKE ON THIS (179.4400); Pork — BUCKEYE BBQ (180.0000); Brisket — SMOKE ON THIS (180.0000). This is the 4th of 6 editions of this contest on record; the 2016 edition was won by UNDER THE RADAR; the next was held in 2018.
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
What it has taken to win here, 2014 to 2025 — this edition picked out.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
Closer than 90% of the 4,714 championships in the data
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.5716 points — closer than 90% of every championship in the data.
706.2400 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 702.2744 SMOKE ON THIS set in 2015.
UNDER THE RADAR won here last time out too — 2 straight editions of this contest.
3 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
4 of 6 tracked editions
UNDER THE RADAR has won this contest 4 times across its 6 tracked editions.
Chicken places 2–3: DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS and BUCKEYE BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 4–5: CONTAGIOUS Q and UNDER THE RADAR tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 7–8: ROAD WARRIORS BBQ edged Q-We-Do by 0.0116.
SMOKE ON THIS won Pork Ribs, Brisket — a double.
UNDER THE RADAR took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork at 5th.
SMOKE ON THIS turned in 179.4400 in pork ribs — past the 176.5600 that had stood across 3 earlier editions.
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: UNDER THE RADAR (won 2014, 2016), SMOKE ON THIS (won 2015).
Records held by every edition of this contest put together, not just this one afternoon.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 10, 2014 | Pikeville, TN | Pikeville, TN 37367 | 11 | 693.6456 | UNDER THE RADAR | SMOKE ON THIS |
| Aug 28, 2015 | Pikeville, TN | Pikeville, TN 37367 | 26 | 702.2744 | SMOKE ON THIS | ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN |
| Aug 26, 2016 | Pikeville, TN | Alan P Deakins Rd | 12 | 689.0856 | UNDER THE RADAR | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES |
| Sep 22, 2017 ← this one | Pikeville, TN | Alan P Deakins Rd | 19 | 706.2400 | UNDER THE RADAR | SMOKE ON THIS |
| Sep 21, 2018 | Pikeville, TN | Alan P Deakins Rd | 12 | 698.8456 | UNDER THE RADAR | HIGH ON THE HAWG |
| Sep 27, 2025 | Edmonton, AB | 13204 Rainbow Valley Road | 23 | 694.8916 | Phantom Smoke & BBQ | SMELLAQUE |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180 | 175.4056 | 169.6800 |
| Pork Ribs | 179.4400 | 173.1316 | 166.2400 |
| Pork | 180 | 173.1200 | 169.1200 |
| Brisket | 180 | 173.1084 | 169.6800 |
19 entries · top 706.2400 · median 678.1368
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 2 | SMOKE ON THIS | |
| 3 | DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS | |
| 4 | HIGH ON THE HAWG | |
| 5 | CONTAGIOUS Q | |
| 6 | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES | |
| 7 | K-TOWN DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 8 | Q-We-Do | |
| 9 | ROAD WARRIORS BBQ | |
| 10 | BIG G BBQ | |
| 11 | Willingham's | |
| 12 | BUCKEYE BBQ | |
| 13 | OLE SMOKEY BARBECUE CREW | |
| 14 | SMOKIN MEDICINE | |
| 15 | EAST COAST BBQ | |
| 16 | POP'S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ | |
| 17 | THE LOW AND SLOW SMOKERS | |
| 18 | Tennessee Traditions BBQ | |
| 19 | QUE'N CREW |
19 entries · top 180 · median 169.6800 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 2 | DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS | |
| 3 | BUCKEYE BBQ | |
| 4 | ROAD WARRIORS BBQ | |
| 5 | HIGH ON THE HAWG | |
| 6 | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES | |
| 7 | K-TOWN DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 8 | Q-We-Do | |
| 9 | THE LOW AND SLOW SMOKERS | |
| 10 | CONTAGIOUS Q | |
| 11 | SMOKE ON THIS | |
| 12 | SMOKIN MEDICINE | |
| 13 | OLE SMOKEY BARBECUE CREW | |
| 14 | BIG G BBQ | |
| 15 | Willingham's | |
| 16 | Tennessee Traditions BBQ | |
| 17 | EAST COAST BBQ | |
| 18 | POP'S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ | |
| 19 | QUE'N CREW |
19 entries · top 179.4400 · median 166.2400
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMOKE ON THIS | |
| 2 | DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS | |
| 3 | Willingham's | |
| 4 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 5 | HIGH ON THE HAWG | |
| 6 | CONTAGIOUS Q | |
| 7 | ROAD WARRIORS BBQ | |
| 8 | Q-We-Do | |
| 9 | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES | |
| 10 | BIG G BBQ | |
| 11 | OLE SMOKEY BARBECUE CREW | |
| 12 | BUCKEYE BBQ | |
| 13 | K-TOWN DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 14 | THE LOW AND SLOW SMOKERS | |
| 15 | EAST COAST BBQ | |
| 16 | SMOKIN MEDICINE | |
| 17 | Tennessee Traditions BBQ | |
| 18 | POP'S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ | |
| 19 | QUE'N CREW |
19 entries · top 180 · median 169.1200 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BUCKEYE BBQ | |
| 2 | SMOKE ON THIS | |
| 3 | K-TOWN DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 4 | CONTAGIOUS Q | |
| 5 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 6 | HIGH ON THE HAWG | |
| 7 | BIG G BBQ | |
| 8 | POP'S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ | |
| 9 | Q-We-Do | |
| 10 | ROAD WARRIORS BBQ | |
| 11 | OLE SMOKEY BARBECUE CREW | |
| 12 | DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS | |
| 13 | THE LOW AND SLOW SMOKERS | |
| 14 | QUE'N CREW | |
| 15 | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES | |
| 16 | Willingham's | |
| 17 | Tennessee Traditions BBQ | |
| 18 | SMOKIN MEDICINE | |
| 19 | EAST COAST BBQ |
19 entries · top 180 · median 169.6800 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMOKE ON THIS | |
| 2 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 3 | RIVER ROAD GRILLBILLIES | |
| 4 | CONTAGIOUS Q | |
| 5 | BIG G BBQ | |
| 6 | HIGH ON THE HAWG | |
| 7 | Willingham's | |
| 8 | K-TOWN DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 9 | Q-We-Do | |
| 10 | DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS | |
| 11 | EAST COAST BBQ | |
| 12 | SMOKIN MEDICINE | |
| 13 | ROAD WARRIORS BBQ | |
| 14 | OLE SMOKEY BARBECUE CREW | |
| 15 | QUE'N CREW | |
| 16 | POP'S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ | |
| 17 | Tennessee Traditions BBQ | |
| 18 | BUCKEYE BBQ | |
| 19 | THE LOW AND SLOW SMOKERS |
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.
7 entries · top 177.7028 · median 171.4288
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ringo's BBQ | |
| 2 | NOAH'S BARK | |
| 3 | SWEET CHEEKS BBQ | |
| 4 | Just Like Dad's | |
| 5 | TRIED & TRUE BAR-B-QUE | |
| 6 | HILLBILLY SMOKE | |
| 7 | BRUSHY MOUNTAIN SMOKE |
7 entries · top 351.4288 · median 331.3600
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Just Like Dad's | |
| 2 | NOAH'S BARK | |
| 3 | Ringo's BBQ | |
| 4 | HILLBILLY SMOKE | |
| 5 | SWEET CHEEKS BBQ | |
| 6 | BRUSHY MOUNTAIN SMOKE | |
| 7 | TRIED & TRUE BAR-B-QUE |
7 entries · top 180 · median 172.5600 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Just Like Dad's | |
| 2 | HILLBILLY SMOKE | |
| 3 | BRUSHY MOUNTAIN SMOKE | |
| 4 | NOAH'S BARK | |
| 5 | Ringo's BBQ | |
| 6 | SWEET CHEEKS BBQ | |
| 7 | TRIED & TRUE BAR-B-QUE |
7 entries · top 180 · median 176.5600 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SWEET CHEEKS BBQ | |
| 2 | DIRTY OL' BUTT SLAPPERS | |
| 3 | QUE'N CREW | |
| 4 | HIGH ON THE HAWG | |
| 5 | HILLBILLY SMOKE | |
| 6 | EAST COAST BBQ | |
| 7 | Tennessee Traditions BBQ |