A new contest record
699.9660
highest overall ever cooked here
699.9660 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 698.2400 Old Virginia Smoke set in 2025.
- old record 698.2400
- set 2025 by Old Virginia Smoke
Devils Backbone BBQ Championship (Day 2) 2025
Jun 7–8, 2025 · Roseland, VA · 📍 30 Three Ridges Ln · State championship
Reps: Alan Rothrock, Doug Reid · Prize money: $2,000
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE won Grand Champion at the Devils Backbone BBQ Championship (Day 2) on June 7, 2025 in Roseland, VA at 30 Three Ridges Ln, scoring 699.9660 in a field of 18 teams. Buckshot's BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 697.6804. Category winners: Chicken — FIRE & SHINE BBQ (180.0000); Pork Ribs — Bowmans Butt & BBQ (177.7144); Pork — HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ (178.8572); Brisket — Buckshot's BBQ (178.8572). This is the 2nd of 2 editions of this contest on record; the 2025 edition was won by Old Virginia Smoke.
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.
630.73
median 684.19
699.97 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 180 🔥
- Pork Ribs 177.71
- Pork 178.86
- Brisket 178.86
149.67
180
Entries
18
4 judged meats
Top score
699.9660
Winning margin
2.2856
GC over RC
Field average
681.05
630.73699.97
median 684.19 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
2.8688 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
683.9316
630.73699.97
10th place overall
Field spread
69.2344
winner to last place
Prize money
$2,000
on the line
Double threats
5
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 33%
beats 67% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
95%
18 of 19 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.55 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,670
avg power rating going in · stronger than 98% of contests
Storylines (10 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.
Back-to-back
2 in a row
editions of this contest
Old Virginia Smoke won here last time out too — 2 straight editions of this contest.
- 2025
- 2025
Won without a category win
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 2nd. Consistency beat fireworks.
- Chicken 4th
- Pork Ribs 2nd
- Pork 5th
- Brisket 7th
A dynasty in the making
2×
wins at this contest
2 of 2 tracked editions
Old Virginia Smoke has won this contest 2 times across its 2 tracked editions.
- 2025
- 2025
A stacked field
1670
average power rating going in
Stronger than 98% of every rated contest
The field averaged a 1670 power rating going in — stronger than 98% of every contest tracked.
- top seed Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit (1841)
- 18 rated teams
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 10 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 4–5: OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE and UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT tied on 175.4172 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 6–7: LEE LA Q and Bowmans Butt & BBQ tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 1–2: Bowmans Butt & BBQ and OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE tied on 177.7144 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
- Chicken 6–7 · tie
- Pork Ribs 1–2 · tie
- Brisket 3–4 · tie
A contest record in pork ribs
177.7144
best pork ribs ever cooked here
Bowmans Butt & BBQ turned in 177.7144 in pork ribs — past the 175.4172 that had stood across 1 earlier editions.
- old best 175.4172
- across 1 past editions
Back to defend
1
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Old Virginia Smoke (won 2025).
- Old Virginia Smoke · 2025
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.
- FIRE & SHINE BBQ · Chicken
They keep coming back
95%
of last edition’s field returned
18 of 19 teams from 2025-06-06 came back
18 of the 19 teams that cooked the previous edition came back for this one — a contest people put on the calendar.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 6, 2025 | Roseland, VA | 30 Three Ridges Ln | 15 | 698.2400 | Old Virginia Smoke | Menke Boys BBQ |
| Jun 7, 2025 ← this one | Roseland, VA | 30 Three Ridges Ln | 18 | 699.9660 | Old Virginia Smoke | Buckshot's BBQ |
| May 30, 2026 | Roseland, VA | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180 | 175.4172 | 173.1200 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7144 | 174.8456 | 172.5600 |
| Pork | 178.8572 | 175.4172 | 170.8228 |
| Brisket | 178.8572 | 173.1200 | 169.6684 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
18 entries · top 699.9660 · median 684.1886
Chicken
18 entries · top 180 · median 173.4114 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
18 entries · top 177.7144 · median 172.8342
Pork
18 entries · top 178.8572 · median 170.8400
Brisket
18 entries · top 178.8572 · median 170.2456