2018-05-04 – 2018-05-05 · Elk Grove, CA · 📍 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD
Grand Champion: SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ (701.6916) · 35 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ
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, 2016 to 2019 — 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.
701.6916 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 696.5140 SON OF SMOKE set in 2016.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ won Chicken, Pork, Brisket — a hat-trick, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
2 of 7 tracked editions
SON OF SMOKE has won this contest 2 times across its 7 tracked editions.
Chicken places 6–7: SON OF SMOKE and Smokey and the Pirate tied on 171.9656 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 8–9: BULL MARKET BBQ and THE SMOKING J'S tied on 170.8228 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 7–8: SON OF SMOKE and FU MAN QUE CREW tied on 171.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 3 outright wins — their weakest board was pork ribs at 7th.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ turned in 178.8572 in brisket — past the 176.0228 that had stood across 3 earlier editions.
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: SON OF SMOKE (won 2016, 2017).
This contest usually draws about 32 teams
35 teams is the deepest field this contest has drawn in the data, against a typical 32.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-04-29 | Elk Grove, CA | 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD | 30 | 696.5140 | SON OF SMOKE | BIG POPPA SMOKERS |
| 2016-04-30 | Elk Grove, CA | 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD | — | — | — | — |
| 2017-05-05 | Elk Grove, CA | 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD | 33 | 687.3600 | SON OF SMOKE | BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ |
| 2018-05-04 ← this one | Elk Grove, CA | 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD | 35 | 701.6916 | SIMPLY MARVELOUS BBQ | BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ |
| 2019-05-03 | Elk Grove, CA | 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD | 27 | 695.9772 | The Smoking J's | BIG POPPA SMOKERS |
| 2019-05-03 | Elk Grove, CA | 9950 Elk Grove-Florin RD | 15 | 330.9144 | Smokin' Ray's BBQ | — |
| 2022-05-06 | Elk Grove, CA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.7372 | 173.7028 | 170.2856 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.1772 | 169.7028 | 167.4288 |
| Pork | 176.5600 | 173.1084 | 167.3828 |
| Brisket | 178.8572 | 171.4056 | 165.1084 |
35 entries · top 701.6916 · median 646.1372
35 entries · top 177.7372 · median 166.2856
35 entries · top 177.1772 · median 162.2516
35 entries · top 176.5600 · median 162.8000
35 entries · top 178.8572 · median 160.5372
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.
10 entries · top 315.4516 · median 303.9770
10 entries · top 162.8916 · median 152.5714
10 entries · top 164.5944 · median 151.1258