A razor-thin finish
0.5944
points between champion and reserve
Closer than 84% of the 612 championships in the data
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.5944 points — closer than 84% of every championship in the data.
- Nice Racks
- WD Pigs
Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY)
— · Broadway Westville, NJ
Reps: Jeff Chambers, John G Busch · Prize money: $4,850
Nice Racks won Grand Champion at the Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY) in Broadway Westville, NJ, scoring 326.2972 in a field of 23 teams. WD Pigs took Reserve Grand Champion with 325.7028. Category winners: Chicken — MANHATTAN JACK'S BBQ (173.1544); Pork Ribs — Zoni-Q (168.0456).
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.
266.15
median 300.57
326.30 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 173.15
- Pork Ribs 168.05
123.35
173.15
Entries
23
2 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
326.2972
Winning margin
0.5944
GC over RC
Field average
300.66
266.15326.30
median 300.57 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
7.4856 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
305.6000
266.15326.30
10th place overall
Field spread
60.1488
winner to last place
Prize money
$4,850
on the line
How hot was the win?
Top 98%
beats 2% of 612 Backyard Series wins in the data
Storylines (2 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
0.0460
closest of 3 calls decided inside half a point
Pork Ribs places 5–6: Weber's Backyard BBQ edged If You Got It Smoke It by 0.0460. Chicken places 5–6: No Worries BBQ edged Jack the Ribber by 0.4344. Chicken places 8–9: Poultrygeist edged Swine & Dine by 0.4572.
- Pork Ribs 5–6 · 0.0460
- Chicken 5–6 · 0.4344
- Chicken 8–9 · 0.4572
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
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 173.1544 | 161.1316 | 150.2972 |
| Pork Ribs | 168.0456 | 160.5600 | 155.3828 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
23 entries · top 326.2972 · median 300.5716
Chicken
23 entries · top 173.1544 · median 149.7144
Pork Ribs
23 entries · top 168.0456 · median 147.4632
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.
Ancillary — Taste Of Jersy
13 entries · top 172.0344 · median 158.3084
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Worries BBQ | |
| 2 | Grill Sargeants | |
| 3 | RED SMOKE BAR-B-QUE | |
| 4 | Southern Smoke | |
| 5 | MANHATTAN JACK'S BBQ | |
| 6 | Jersey Paul's BBQ | |
| 7 | Too Many Cooks | |
| 8 | Poultrygeist | |
| 9 | MRC Barbecue | |
| 10 | DAMN THAT'S GOOD BBQ | |
| 11 | southwood bbq | |
| 12 | Weber's Backyard BBQ | |
| 13 | Sauce Em & Toss Em BBQ |