A first Grand Championship
40
tracked contests to get there
This was DG FIREHOUSE BBQ's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 40th tracked contest.
Grills N Grills
2017-08-25 – 2017-08-26 · penn Valley, CA · 📍 18560 penn Valley DR
Grand Champion: DG FIREHOUSE BBQ (698.8456) · 27 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Smokey and the Pirate
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.
590.18
median 651.91
698.85 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 178.30
- Pork Ribs 176.00
- Pork 178.88
- Brisket 174.26
134.30
178.88
Entries
27
4 judged meats · 2 ancillary
Top score
698.8456
Winning margin
5.1084
GC over RC
Field average
651.87
590.18698.85
median 651.91 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Chicken
4.0228 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
663.8856
590.18698.85
10th place overall
Field spread
108.6632
winner to last place
Double threats
3
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 37%
beats 63% of 4707 Master Series wins in the data
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.69 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1554
avg power rating going in · stronger than 41% of contests
Storylines (4 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.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 9 calls decided inside half a point
Pork Ribs places 5–6: JACK9 BBQ - CA and SMOKIN MO'S BBQ tied on 170.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 6–7: THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES and NOTHING COMPARES 2 Q tied on 169.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 1–2: CYNICAL BBQ and DG FIREHOUSE BBQ tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Pork Ribs 5–6 · tie
- Pork 6–7 · tie
- Brisket 1–2 · tie
- Pork 8–9 · 0.0116
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
DG FIREHOUSE BBQ won Chicken, Pork — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork 1st
How the title was won
3 of 4
meats called to the stage
DG FIREHOUSE BBQ took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 2 outright wins — their weakest board was pork ribs at 13th.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 13th
- Pork 1st
- Brisket 2nd
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-25 ← this one | penn Valley, CA | 18560 penn Valley DR | 27 | 698.8456 | DG FIREHOUSE BBQ | Smokey and the Pirate |
| 2018-10-12 | Penn Valley, CA | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 178.2972 | 174.2744 | 170.8344 |
| Pork Ribs | 176.0000 | 170.8572 | 168.5600 |
| Pork | 178.8800 | 169.7028 | 166.2856 |
| Brisket | 174.2628 | 168.5600 | 163.9428 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
27 entries · top 698.8456 · median 651.9084
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DG FIREHOUSE BBQ | |
| 2 | Smokey and the Pirate | |
| 3 | BAR-B-Q'S-2GO | |
| 4 | CYNICAL BBQ | |
| 5 | NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT | |
| 6 | SMOKIN MO'S BBQ | |
| 7 | THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES | |
| 8 | PLASTERED PIG BBQ | |
| 9 | The Smoking J's | |
| 10 | JACK9 BBQ - CA | |
| 11 | FU MAN QUE CREW | |
| 12 | SMOKED SEDUCTION | |
| 13 | FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. | |
| 14 | RBQ | |
| 15 | REDNECKS WITH FIRE | |
| 16 | 2 ROLLING BONES | |
| 17 | NOTHING COMPARES 2 Q | |
| 18 | PIRATES OF THE PIG | |
| 19 | SALTWORKS BBQ | |
| 20 | THIN BLUE QUE | |
| 21 | HELLO BBQ | |
| 22 | BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ | |
| 23 | GIT-R-SMOKED | |
| 24 | SMOKIN' AXE BBQ | |
| 25 | PORK DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 26 | KICKEN ASH AND MAKEN FLAMES | |
| 27 | GYPSY BBQ |
Chicken
27 entries · top 178.2972 · median 166.8228
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DG FIREHOUSE BBQ | |
| 2 | Smokey and the Pirate | |
| 3 | THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES | |
| 4 | PLASTERED PIG BBQ | |
| 5 | BAR-B-Q'S-2GO | |
| 6 | The Smoking J's | |
| 7 | JACK9 BBQ - CA | |
| 8 | CYNICAL BBQ | |
| 9 | HELLO BBQ | |
| 10 | SMOKED SEDUCTION | |
| 11 | NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT | |
| 12 | PORK DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 13 | SMOKIN MO'S BBQ | |
| 14 | NOTHING COMPARES 2 Q | |
| 15 | SMOKIN' AXE BBQ | |
| 16 | BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ | |
| 17 | FU MAN QUE CREW | |
| 18 | RBQ | |
| 19 | PIRATES OF THE PIG | |
| 20 | REDNECKS WITH FIRE | |
| 21 | GYPSY BBQ | |
| 22 | FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. | |
| 23 | 2 ROLLING BONES | |
| 24 | SALTWORKS BBQ | |
| 25 | KICKEN ASH AND MAKEN FLAMES | |
| 26 | GIT-R-SMOKED | |
| 27 | THIN BLUE QUE |
Pork Ribs
27 entries · top 176.0000 · median 166.8572
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 ROLLING BONES | |
| 2 | THIN BLUE QUE | |
| 3 | BAR-B-Q'S-2GO | |
| 4 | Smokey and the Pirate | |
| 5 | JACK9 BBQ - CA | |
| 6 | SMOKIN MO'S BBQ | |
| 7 | REDNECKS WITH FIRE | |
| 8 | BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ | |
| 9 | SALTWORKS BBQ | |
| 10 | The Smoking J's | |
| 11 | NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT | |
| 12 | SMOKED SEDUCTION | |
| 13 | DG FIREHOUSE BBQ | |
| 14 | HELLO BBQ | |
| 15 | CYNICAL BBQ | |
| 16 | FU MAN QUE CREW | |
| 17 | THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES | |
| 18 | FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. | |
| 19 | PIRATES OF THE PIG | |
| 20 | SMOKIN' AXE BBQ | |
| 21 | RBQ | |
| 22 | PLASTERED PIG BBQ | |
| 23 | NOTHING COMPARES 2 Q | |
| 24 | KICKEN ASH AND MAKEN FLAMES | |
| 25 | GIT-R-SMOKED | |
| 26 | GYPSY BBQ | |
| 27 | PORK DADDY'S BBQ |
Pork
27 entries · top 178.8800 · median 162.2744
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DG FIREHOUSE BBQ | |
| 2 | FU MAN QUE CREW | |
| 3 | Smokey and the Pirate | |
| 4 | FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. | |
| 5 | BAR-B-Q'S-2GO | |
| 6 | THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES | |
| 7 | NOTHING COMPARES 2 Q | |
| 8 | SMOKIN MO'S BBQ | |
| 9 | NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT | |
| 10 | 2 ROLLING BONES | |
| 11 | PLASTERED PIG BBQ | |
| 12 | CYNICAL BBQ | |
| 13 | SALTWORKS BBQ | |
| 14 | THIN BLUE QUE | |
| 15 | The Smoking J's | |
| 16 | SMOKED SEDUCTION | |
| 17 | REDNECKS WITH FIRE | |
| 18 | KICKEN ASH AND MAKEN FLAMES | |
| 19 | SMOKIN' AXE BBQ | |
| 20 | RBQ | |
| 21 | PIRATES OF THE PIG | |
| 22 | JACK9 BBQ - CA | |
| 23 | HELLO BBQ | |
| 24 | GIT-R-SMOKED | |
| 25 | GYPSY BBQ | |
| 26 | BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ | |
| 27 | PORK DADDY'S BBQ |
Brisket
27 entries · top 174.2628 · median 160.5716
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CYNICAL BBQ | |
| 2 | DG FIREHOUSE BBQ | |
| 3 | Smokey and the Pirate | |
| 4 | RBQ | |
| 5 | BAR-B-Q'S-2GO | |
| 6 | NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT | |
| 7 | GIT-R-SMOKED | |
| 8 | PLASTERED PIG BBQ | |
| 9 | JACK9 BBQ - CA | |
| 10 | PIRATES OF THE PIG | |
| 11 | SMOKIN MO'S BBQ | |
| 12 | SMOKED SEDUCTION | |
| 13 | REDNECKS WITH FIRE | |
| 14 | THIN BLUE QUE | |
| 15 | The Smoking J's | |
| 16 | FU MAN QUE CREW | |
| 17 | PORK DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 18 | THE CALIFORNIA GRILL BILLIES | |
| 19 | FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. | |
| 20 | SALTWORKS BBQ | |
| 21 | NOTHING COMPARES 2 Q | |
| 22 | BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ | |
| 23 | 2 ROLLING BONES | |
| 24 | HELLO BBQ | |
| 25 | SMOKIN' AXE BBQ | |
| 26 | GYPSY BBQ | |
| 27 | KICKEN ASH AND MAKEN FLAMES |
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 Overall
8 entries · top 150.3660 · median 138.0114
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rib Doctors | |
| 2 | 3 Sheets to the Wind | |
| 3 | Aroma Catering | |
| 4 | The Cooking Dead | |
| 5 | Grillifornia 6 | |
| 6 | GCCS Silver Servants | |
| 7 | Interfaith Food Ministry BBQ Kings | |
| 8 | RUB-N-BUTTS |
Master Series — Backyard Ribs
8 entries · top 150.3660 · median 138.0114
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rib Doctors | |
| 2 | 3 Sheets to the Wind | |
| 3 | Aroma Catering | |
| 4 | The Cooking Dead | |
| 5 | Grillifornia 6 | |
| 6 | GCCS Silver Servants | |
| 7 | Interfaith Food Ministry BBQ Kings | |
| 8 | RUB-N-BUTTS |