The Downtown BBQ Showdown

2023-04-14 – 2023-04-15 · Lake City, FL · 📍 828 NE Lake Desoto Circle · State championship

Reps: JULIE COOK, RUSTY COOK · Prize money: $10,000.00

Grand Champion: COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ LLC (701.6804) · 32 teams

Reserve Champion: 🥈 Cooters N Smoke

🥇

COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ

701.6804 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

Cooters N Smoke

701.6456 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

Going Yard BBQ

699.9428 · Master Series — Overall

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

701.6804

Winning margin

0.0348

GC over RC

Field average

665.28

median 687.61

Perfect 180s

4 🔥

SWEET DIXIE BBQ (Chicken), YES, DEAR BBQ (Chicken), Cooters N Smoke (Pork), HOT WACHULA'S (Pork)

Tightest race

Pork Ribs

1.7144 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

689.6228

10th place overall

Field spread

249.7832

winner to last place

Prize money

$10,000.00

on the line

Most consistent

Cooters N Smoke

avg finish 6.25 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Pork Ribs

won by 1.1428 pts — HOT WACHULA'S

How hot was the win?

Top 40%

beats 60% of 1951 Master Series wins in the data

Traveled in

34%

of the 32 teams with a home region came from outside FL

Form held

Moderate

ρ = -0.39 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1538

avg power rating going in · stronger than 43% of contests

Top-rated in the field

Kings BBQ Team

rated 1700 pre-contest

Storylines

🪒 A razor-thin finish

The Grand Championship was decided by 0.0348 points — closer than 95% of every championship in the data.

🔥 A day of perfect scores

4 perfect 180s were scored at this contest.

📸 Photo finishes

Chicken places 1–2: SWEET DIXIE BBQ and YES, DEAR BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 5–6: TILLMAN'S BBQ and Slapulator BBQ tied on 175.4172 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 7–8: Cooters N Smoke and SMOKIN' AIN'T EZ tied on 175.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.

🃏 An upset on the books

COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, Kings BBQ Team, 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)

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
2023-04-14 ← this one	Lake City, FL	828 NE Lake Desoto Circle	32	701.6804	COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ LLC	Cooters N Smoke
2024-11-08	Lake City, FL	200 NE Hillsboro St	26	709.1200	Gettin' Basted	Mad Dog BBQ
2026-04-17	Lake City, FL	828 NE Lake Desoto Circle	41	706.8344	Accutech BBQ	Kings BBQ Team
2026-04-17	Lake City, FL	828 NE Lake Desoto Circle	21	177.7144	Hold Your Horses BBQ	—

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	180.0000	175.4172	175.4056
Pork Ribs	175.4172	173.7028	171.9772
Pork	180.0000	177.7028	174.2628
Brisket	178.8572	176.5600	173.1200

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

32 entries · top 701.6804 · median 687.6056

#	Team	Score
1	COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ	701.6804
2	Cooters N Smoke	701.6456
3	Going Yard BBQ	699.9428
4	HOT WACHULA'S	699.3484
5	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	699.3484
6	SWEET DIXIE BBQ	698.8000
7	TILLMAN'S BBQ	690.7656
8	HURRICANE COOKERS	690.7540
9	Mad Dog BBQ	689.6228
10	YES, DEAR BBQ	689.6228
11	UNCLE TOAD'S COMPETITION BBQ	689.6112
12	KEEPIN IT SMOKIN BBQ	689.6112
13	FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	689.0400
14	Kings BBQ Team	689.0396
15	Ramblin Fork BBQ Co	687.8972
16	Cold Beer BBQ	687.8856
17	MAYA JANE BBQ CO.	687.3256
18	Slapulator BBQ	683.9088
19	Bearded Monkeys Twisted Q	683.3028
20	SMOKIN' AIN'T EZ	682.1484
21	JACK'S OLD SOUTH	679.3028
22	K & E's Little Smokers	675.3028
23	BUDMEISTERS BBQ TEAM	669.5660
24	POP'S SMOKE ON THE HILL	664.4228
25	SPLIT CREEK BAR-B-QUE	657.0176
26	The Bearded Smoker	655.9088
27	KODAS BBQ LLC	654.6632
28	PUERCOS LOCOS	642.6288
29	SMOKIN' GEARS BARBECUE	637.5888
30	SMOKIN LIKE A 57 CHEVY BBQ AND CATERING	609.5428
31	THE SMOKED BISCUIT COMPANY	459.7716
32	BUCK'S BBQ AND FRY	451.8972

Chicken

32 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.9830 · 🔥 perfect 180

#	Team	Score
1	SWEET DIXIE BBQ	180.0000 🔥
2	YES, DEAR BBQ	180.0000 🔥
3	Going Yard BBQ	178.8572
4	UNCLE TOAD'S COMPETITION BBQ	177.7028
5	TILLMAN'S BBQ	175.4172
6	Slapulator BBQ	175.4172
7	Cooters N Smoke	175.4056
8	SMOKIN' AIN'T EZ	175.4056
9	FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	175.4056
10	Kings BBQ Team	175.4056
11	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	174.2628
12	MAYA JANE BBQ CO.	174.2628
13	Ramblin Fork BBQ Co	174.2628
14	KEEPIN IT SMOKIN BBQ	173.1200
15	Bearded Monkeys Twisted Q	173.1084
16	SPLIT CREEK BAR-B-QUE	171.9888
17	COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ	171.9772
18	Cold Beer BBQ	171.9656
19	POP'S SMOKE ON THE HILL	170.8344
20	The Bearded Smoker	170.8228
21	JACK'S OLD SOUTH	170.8228
22	K & E's Little Smokers	170.8228
23	KODAS BBQ LLC	169.6800
24	HOT WACHULA'S	169.6684
25	HURRICANE COOKERS	169.1200
26	BUDMEISTERS BBQ TEAM	168.5372
27	Mad Dog BBQ	168.5256
28	SMOKIN' GEARS BARBECUE	162.2744
29	PUERCOS LOCOS	160.5144
30	THE SMOKED BISCUIT COMPANY	156.5144
31	SMOKIN LIKE A 57 CHEVY BBQ AND CATERING	144.5372
32	BUCK'S BBQ AND FRY	20.0000

Pork Ribs

31 entries · top 175.4172 · median 169.1200

#	Team	Score
1	HOT WACHULA'S	175.4172
2	COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ	174.2744
3	HURRICANE COOKERS	174.2628
4	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	174.2628
5	SWEET DIXIE BBQ	173.7028
6	Cooters N Smoke	173.1316
7	TILLMAN'S BBQ	173.1200
8	Kings BBQ Team	173.1200
9	Bearded Monkeys Twisted Q	173.1200
10	Going Yard BBQ	171.9772
11	K & E's Little Smokers	171.9772
12	KODAS BBQ LLC	170.8460
13	FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	170.8344
14	Cold Beer BBQ	169.6800
15	Mad Dog BBQ	169.6800
16	UNCLE TOAD'S COMPETITION BBQ	169.1200
17	SMOKIN' AIN'T EZ	168.5372
18	BUDMEISTERS BBQ TEAM	167.3944
19	KEEPIN IT SMOKIN BBQ	166.8228
20	POP'S SMOKE ON THE HILL	166.2516
21	SPLIT CREEK BAR-B-QUE	166.2400
22	JACK'S OLD SOUTH	165.6800
23	Ramblin Fork BBQ Co	165.0972
24	Slapulator BBQ	162.8116
25	SMOKIN LIKE A 57 CHEVY BBQ AND CATERING	162.7884
26	The Bearded Smoker	162.2972
27	MAYA JANE BBQ CO.	161.0972
28	PUERCOS LOCOS	160.5144
29	YES, DEAR BBQ	160.5028
30	SMOKIN' GEARS BARBECUE	155.9428
31	BUCK'S BBQ AND FRY	136.4572

Pork

32 entries · top 180.0000 · median 172.8342 · 🔥 perfect 180

#	Team	Score
1	Cooters N Smoke	180.0000 🔥
2	HOT WACHULA'S	180.0000 🔥
3	Going Yard BBQ	178.8572
4	COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ	177.7144
5	KEEPIN IT SMOKIN BBQ	177.7028
6	Cold Beer BBQ	176.5716
7	Ramblin Fork BBQ Co	175.4172
8	MAYA JANE BBQ CO.	175.4056
9	Mad Dog BBQ	174.2744
10	HURRICANE COOKERS	174.2628
11	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	174.2628
12	SMOKIN' AIN'T EZ	174.2628
13	K & E's Little Smokers	173.7028
14	UNCLE TOAD'S COMPETITION BBQ	173.1200
15	SWEET DIXIE BBQ	173.1200
16	JACK'S OLD SOUTH	173.1200
17	Kings BBQ Team	172.5484
18	Bearded Monkeys Twisted Q	171.9772
19	YES, DEAR BBQ	170.2628
20	Slapulator BBQ	170.2628
21	FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	169.6800
22	TILLMAN'S BBQ	167.9656
23	KODAS BBQ LLC	167.3828
24	BUDMEISTERS BBQ TEAM	165.0972
25	SPLIT CREEK BAR-B-QUE	165.0972
26	POP'S SMOKE ON THE HILL	164.5484
27	The Bearded Smoker	161.1432
28	PUERCOS LOCOS	159.9428
29	BUCK'S BBQ AND FRY	159.4400
30	THE SMOKED BISCUIT COMPANY	156.5028
31	SMOKIN' GEARS BARBECUE	153.6572
32	SMOKIN LIKE A 57 CHEVY BBQ AND CATERING	148.5372

Brisket

32 entries · top 178.8572 · median 169.6742

#	Team	Score
1	YES, DEAR BBQ	178.8572
2	COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ	177.7144
3	Mad Dog BBQ	177.1428
4	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	176.5600
5	MAYA JANE BBQ CO.	176.5600
6	Slapulator BBQ	175.4172
7	HOT WACHULA'S	174.2628
8	TILLMAN'S BBQ	174.2628
9	Ramblin Fork BBQ Co	173.1200
10	FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	173.1200
11	Cooters N Smoke	173.1084
12	HURRICANE COOKERS	173.1084
13	SWEET DIXIE BBQ	171.9772
14	KEEPIN IT SMOKIN BBQ	171.9656
15	Going Yard BBQ	170.2512
16	JACK'S OLD SOUTH	169.6800
17	Cold Beer BBQ	169.6684
18	UNCLE TOAD'S COMPETITION BBQ	169.6684
19	BUDMEISTERS BBQ TEAM	168.5372
20	Kings BBQ Team	167.9656
21	SMOKIN' GEARS BARBECUE	165.7144
22	Bearded Monkeys Twisted Q	165.0972
23	SMOKIN' AIN'T EZ	163.9428
24	POP'S SMOKE ON THE HILL	162.7884
25	PUERCOS LOCOS	161.6572
26	The Bearded Smoker	161.6456
27	K & E's Little Smokers	158.8000
28	SPLIT CREEK BAR-B-QUE	153.6916
29	SMOKIN LIKE A 57 CHEVY BBQ AND CATERING	153.6800
30	THE SMOKED BISCUIT COMPANY	146.7544
31	KODAS BBQ LLC	146.7544
32	BUCK'S BBQ AND FRY	136.0000

The Downtown BBQ Showdown

Entries

Top score

Winning margin

Field average

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Top-10 cutoff

Field spread

Prize money

Most consistent

Double threats

Widest winning margin

How hot was the win?

Traveled in

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines

🪒 A razor-thin finish

🔥 A day of perfect scores

📸 Photo finishes

🃏 An upset on the books

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 →

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

Chicken

Pork Ribs

Pork

Brisket