A rookie on the podium
2nd
at their first tracked contest
The King & His Q finished 2nd overall in the first contest the data has them cooking at all.
Smokin in the Valley 2
Aug 1–2, 2026 · Herne Hill, Western Australia, Australia · AUSTRALIA · 📍 124 Leonard Street
Reps: Karina Rumens, Paul Woodhams, Rob Stevens
Aussie TongMasters won Grand Champion at the Smokin in the Valley 2 on August 1, 2026 in Herne Hill, Western Australia, 6056 at 124 Leonard Street, scoring 697.7256 in a field of 8 teams. The King & his Q took Reserve Grand Champion with 694.2628. Category winners: Chicken — The King & his Q (178.8800); Pork Ribs — Aussie TongMasters (175.4400); Pork — Aussie Davo (173.7256); Brisket — Aussie TongMasters (173.7028).
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.
655.23
median 676.27
697.73 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 178.88
- Pork Ribs 175.44
- Pork 173.73
- Brisket 173.70
146.85
178.88
Entries
8
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
697.7256
Winning margin
3.4628
GC over RC
Field average
675.05
655.23697.73
median 676.27 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork
4.0572 pts across the top 5
Field spread
42.4916
winner to last place
Double threats
7
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 42%
beats 58% of 4711 Master Series wins in the data
Form held
Weak
ρ = -0.29 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,511
avg power rating going in
Storylines (4 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
Tie
decided the closest call
Brisket places 1–2: Aussie TongMasters and The King & his Q tied on 173.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Brisket 1–2 · tie
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
Aussie TongMasters won Pork Ribs, Brisket — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Pork Ribs 1st
- Brisket 1st
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
Aussie TongMasters took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 2 outright wins — their weakest board was pork at 4th.
- Chicken 2nd
- Pork Ribs 1st
- Pork 4th
- Brisket 1st
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)
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 178.8800 | 171.4400 | — |
| Pork Ribs | 175.4400 | 168.0344 | — |
| Pork | 173.7256 | 169.6684 | — |
| Brisket | 173.7028 | 165.1544 | — |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
8 entries · top 697.7256 · median 676.2742
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aussie TongMasters | |
| 2 | The King & his Q | |
| 3 | BLUE MIST BBQ | |
| 4 | Ribs n Pigs bbq | |
| 5 | Smokin' Steve's BBQ | |
| 6 | Aussie Davo | |
| 7 | Smokin Genius | |
| 8 | Pit Bull Smokers |
Chicken
8 entries · top 178.8800 · median 172.8800
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The King & his Q | |
| 2 | Aussie TongMasters | |
| 3 | Smokin Genius | |
| 4 | BLUE MIST BBQ | |
| 5 | Smokin' Steve's BBQ | |
| 6 | Ribs n Pigs bbq | |
| 7 | Pit Bull Smokers | |
| 8 | Aussie Davo |
Pork Ribs
8 entries · top 175.4400 · median 168.2972
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aussie TongMasters | |
| 2 | BLUE MIST BBQ | |
| 3 | Ribs n Pigs bbq | |
| 4 | The King & his Q | |
| 5 | Aussie Davo | |
| 6 | Smokin' Steve's BBQ | |
| 7 | Pit Bull Smokers | |
| 8 | Smokin Genius |
Pork
8 entries · top 173.7256 · median 170.5370
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aussie Davo | |
| 2 | The King & his Q | |
| 3 | Smokin' Steve's BBQ | |
| 4 | Aussie TongMasters | |
| 5 | Pit Bull Smokers | |
| 6 | Smokin Genius | |
| 7 | Ribs n Pigs bbq | |
| 8 | BLUE MIST BBQ |
Brisket
8 entries · top 173.7028 · median 167.4344
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aussie TongMasters | |
| 2 | The King & his Q | |
| 3 | Ribs n Pigs bbq | |
| 4 | BLUE MIST BBQ | |
| 5 | Smokin Genius | |
| 6 | Smokin' Steve's BBQ | |
| 7 | Aussie Davo | |
| 8 | Pit Bull Smokers |
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 — Dessert
4 entries · top 176.5600 · median 170.8572
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aussie TongMasters | |
| 2 | The King & his Q | |
| 3 | Aussie Davo | |
| 4 | BLUE MIST BBQ |