Smoke in the Grove (Day 1)
2022-07-29 – 2022-07-30 · Spring Grove, PA · 📍 205 East Railroad Street · State championship
Reps: ALEX JR BROWN, ANGELA MCKEE, LOUISE WEIDNER, ROBERT MCKEE · Prize money: $10,450.00
Grand Champion: Piggin' Whiskey (697.6688) · 54 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Perfect 180s
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Prize money
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Came back for more
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🧳 Out-of-towners took the title
Piggin' Whiskey took the Grand Championship home to KS.
🔥 A day of perfect scores
3 perfect 180s were scored at this contest.
🧹 A double category winner
GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ won Chicken, Pork Ribs — a double.
📸 Photo finishes
Master Series — Chicken places 5–6: THE PIG'S PAJAMAS and JD'S SMOKIN MISFITS tied on 177.1428 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Master Series — Pork Ribs places 1–2: GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ and PIGGIN' WHISKEY tied on 175.4172 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Master Series — Pork Ribs places 6–7: ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN and OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE tied on 171.9656 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ (won 2017), WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ (won 2018), Team Meat Coma (won 2019), Not So Famous Dave's BBQ (won 2021).
🃏 An upset on the books
Piggin' Whiskey came in rated below the field's top team, ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 29-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
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)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-07-28 | 205 E Railroad Street | 51 | 675.8972 | CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ | PAVONE BROTHERS BBQ | |
| 2018-07-27 | 205 E Railroad Street | 54 | 688.4912 | WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ | APORKALYPSE NOW | |
| 2019-07-26 | Spring Grove, PA | 205 E Railroad Street | 53 | 692.5488 | Team Meat Coma | SMOKIN' TEX BBQ |
| 2020-07-24 | Spring Grove, PA | 205 East Railroad St | 59 | 697.7372 | Dign N Pign | UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT |
| 2021-07-30 | Spring Grove, PA | Spring Grove, PA 17362 | 54 | 692.5256 | Not So Famous Dave's BBQ | TOP GUN BARBECUE |
| 2022-07-29 ← this one | Spring Grove, PA | 205 East Railroad Street | 54 | 697.6688 | Piggin' Whiskey | OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE |
| 2022-07-30 | Spring Grove, PA | 205 East Railroad Street | 42 | 703.9888 | Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit | WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ |
| 2023-07-28 | Spring Grove, PA | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023-07-29 | Spring Grove, PA | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Series — Chicken | 180.0000 | 177.1428 | 176.0000 |
| Master Series — Pork Ribs | 175.4172 | 173.1316 | 170.8572 |
| Master Series — Pork | 177.7372 | 174.2972 | 173.1200 |
| Master Series — Brisket | 177.1428 | 173.1200 | 170.2744 |
| Backyard Series — Chicken | 180.0000 | 175.4056 | 173.1316 |
| Backyard Series — Pork Ribs | 176.5716 | 171.4288 | 170.2744 |
| Backyard Series — Pork | 178.8572 | 171.9772 | 168.0000 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
54 entries · top 697.6688 · median 659.6056
Chicken
54 entries · top 180.0000 · median 169.4172 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
54 entries · top 175.4172 · median 165.1258
Pork
54 entries · top 177.7372 · median 162.8514
Brisket
54 entries · top 177.1428 · median 163.9944
Backyard Series
Overall
36 entries · top 516.5144 · median 498.5030
Chicken
36 entries · top 180.0000 · median 169.4000 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
36 entries · top 176.5716 · median 163.1030
Pork
36 entries · top 178.8572 · median 163.0914
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.
Turkey Smoke Series — Turkey Smoke
57 entries · top 179.4400 · median 162.2400