A statement win
8.5944
points clear of the field
Wider than 86% of the 713 championships in the data
The champion won by 8.5944 points — a wider margin than 86% of championships in the data.
Spring into Summer Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)
2026-05-29 – 2026-05-30 · Owatonna, MN · 📍 1525 South Cedar Avenue
Reps: LAURIE TWETEN · Prize money: $2,000.00
Grand Champion: Dawgs BBQ (356.5600) · 25 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Big Ten Bones
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.
301.62
median 338.24
356.56 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 180.00 🔥
- Pork Ribs 176.56
146.81
180.00
Entries
25
2 judged meats · 2 ancillary
Top score
356.5600
Winning margin
8.5944
GC over RC
Field average
334.60
301.62356.56
median 338.24 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
2.2744 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
339.3828
301.62356.56
10th place overall
Field spread
54.9372
winner to last place
Prize money
$2,000.00
on the line
Double threats
1
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 23%
beats 77% of 713 Backyard Series wins in the data
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.76 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1558
avg power rating going in · stronger than 45% 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 2 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 2–3: Briskey Business BBQ and Sensuous BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 2–3: Unknown Smokers edged FENDER BENDER BBQ by 0.0344.
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Pork Ribs 2–3 · 0.0344
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
DAWGS BBQ won Chicken, Pork Ribs — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 1st
A perfect score on the table
1
perfect 180s
1 perfect 180 was scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- DAWGS BBQ · Chicken
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)
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 177.1544 | 171.4172 |
| Pork Ribs | 176.5600 | 174.2856 | 167.9656 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
25 entries · top 356.5600 · median 338.2400
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAWGS BBQ | |
| 2 | Big Ten Bones | |
| 3 | Briskey Business BBQ | |
| 4 | Sensuous BBQ | |
| 5 | Skinny Pig BBQ | |
| 6 | Big Mike's Smokehouse | |
| 7 | FENDER BENDER BBQ | |
| 8 | Unknown Smokers | |
| 9 | Big Bear BBQ | |
| 10 | Smokin Gopher BBQ Team | |
| 11 | Goner BBQ | |
| 12 | SMOKEY GQ | |
| 13 | 901Q | |
| 14 | Notorious P.I.G. | |
| 15 | Natural Born Grillers | |
| 16 | Ole Mae I BBQ | |
| 17 | Two Sexy Pitmasters BBQ | |
| 18 | Berg's BBQ | |
| 19 | Just a Tad | |
| 20 | Not Bad BBQ | |
| 21 | Sasquatch Smoke N Que | |
| 22 | Imperial BBQ | |
| 23 | Heavy Smoke Showing | |
| 24 | Fat Kid Crew | |
| 25 | Meat Rubbers BBQ |
Chicken
25 entries · top 180.0000 · median 169.1428 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAWGS BBQ | |
| 2 | Briskey Business BBQ | |
| 3 | Sensuous BBQ | |
| 4 | SMOKEY GQ | |
| 5 | 901Q | |
| 6 | Big Mike's Smokehouse | |
| 7 | Ole Mae I BBQ | |
| 8 | Big Ten Bones | |
| 9 | Skinny Pig BBQ | |
| 10 | Natural Born Grillers | |
| 11 | Goner BBQ | |
| 12 | Just a Tad | |
| 13 | Sasquatch Smoke N Que | |
| 14 | Smokin Gopher BBQ Team | |
| 15 | Notorious P.I.G. | |
| 16 | Two Sexy Pitmasters BBQ | |
| 17 | Heavy Smoke Showing | |
| 18 | Big Bear BBQ | |
| 19 | FENDER BENDER BBQ | |
| 20 | Unknown Smokers | |
| 21 | Imperial BBQ | |
| 22 | Berg's BBQ | |
| 23 | Not Bad BBQ | |
| 24 | Meat Rubbers BBQ | |
| 25 | Fat Kid Crew |
Pork Ribs
25 entries · top 176.5600 · median 166.2516
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAWGS BBQ | |
| 2 | Unknown Smokers | |
| 3 | FENDER BENDER BBQ | |
| 4 | Big Ten Bones | |
| 5 | Big Bear BBQ | |
| 6 | Skinny Pig BBQ | |
| 7 | Smokin Gopher BBQ Team | |
| 8 | Notorious P.I.G. | |
| 9 | Goner BBQ | |
| 10 | Briskey Business BBQ | |
| 11 | Big Mike's Smokehouse | |
| 12 | Berg's BBQ | |
| 13 | Sensuous BBQ | |
| 14 | Natural Born Grillers | |
| 15 | Not Bad BBQ | |
| 16 | Two Sexy Pitmasters BBQ | |
| 17 | Just a Tad | |
| 18 | SMOKEY GQ | |
| 19 | 901Q | |
| 20 | Fat Kid Crew | |
| 21 | Ole Mae I BBQ | |
| 22 | Sasquatch Smoke N Que | |
| 23 | Imperial BBQ | |
| 24 | Heavy Smoke Showing | |
| 25 | Meat Rubbers 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.
Kids-Q — Kids Q
7 entries · top 175.4516 · median 171.4516
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlee Neilson | |
| 2 | Adi Herman | |
| 3 | Lawson Evans | |
| 4 | Justun Horvath | |
| 5 | Liam Cory | |
| 6 | Oakley Horvath | |
| 7 | Myles Martin |