American Royal World Series of Barbecue - INVITATIONAL CONTEST
2022-09-29 – 2022-10-01 · Kansas City, KS · 📍 Kansas City, KS 66111
Reps: BOB MCKINNON, CLARA WILLIAMS, FORREST BRUCE, JONATHAN B WILLIAMS, JULIE COOK, KAREN JANE WILLIAMS, LARRY HADLEY, LARRY VOTH, LYNDA VOTH, RALPH WILLIAMS, RUSTY COOK, TERRI MCKINNON
Grand Champion: QUE U (711.9656) · 249 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Bushmaster BBQ
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Perfect 180s
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Came back for more
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🧳 Out-of-towners took the title
QUE U took the Grand Championship home to WI.
🔥 A day of perfect scores
16 perfect 180s were scored at this contest.
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 1–2: THE BBQ BUS and ACES HIGH BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 2–3: ACES HIGH BBQ and SMOKE THIS BBQ MO tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 3–4: SMOKE THIS BBQ MO and Sharpe's Woodshed tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: TRIPLE H BBQ (won 2021).
🏟️ A stacked field
The field averaged a 1607 power rating going in — stronger than 93% of every contest tracked.
🃏 An upset on the books
QUE U came in rated below the field's top team, GETTIN' BASTED, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 28-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-09-16 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas Speedway | 185 | 708.5372 | TRIPLE H BBQ | SIN CIRCLE BBQ |
| 2022-09-29 ← this one | Kansas City, KS | Kansas City, KS 66111 | 249 | 711.9656 | QUE U | Bushmaster BBQ |
| 2023-09-27 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas City, KS 66111 | 211 | 706.8572 | FIRE AT THE END OF THE DAY | Damn Fine Beef & Swine |
| 2024-10-30 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas Speedway | 169 | 709.7028 | Hot Daddy's BBQ | Smoke Central BBQ |
| 2025-11-05 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas Speedway | 158 | 710.8344 | Rooters-N-Tooters TN | TRIPLE H BBQ |
| 2026-09-30 | Kansas City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 180.0000 | 178.8572 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8572 | 178.3200 | 177.7372 |
| Pork | 180.0000 | 179.4400 | 178.8572 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 180.0000 | 177.7028 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
249 entries · top 711.9656 · median 681.0512
Chicken
249 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.4056 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
249 entries · top 178.8572 · median 170.8344
Pork
249 entries · top 180.0000 · median 170.8228 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
248 entries · top 180.0000 · median 169.6684 · 🔥 perfect 180