Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff
2023-09-08 – 2023-09-09 · Waller, TX · 📍 Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park · State championship
Reps: KAREN JANE WILLIAMS, RALPH WILLIAMS · Prize money: $35,000.00
Grand Champion: Race Crew Drum Smokers (693.1660) · 99 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Team Chupacabra
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
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🪒 A razor-thin finish
The Grand Championship was decided by 1.2004 points — closer than 75% of every championship in the data.
🧹 A double category winner
Race Crew Drum Smokers won Pork, Brisket — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 1–2: Hickory Lodge BBQ and Boozey Que tied on 177.7372 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 2–3: East Texas Smokers and Lobos Den BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 2–3: Bubba Fats and Pitfather BBQ tied on 177.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
🃏 An upset on the books
Race Crew Drum Smokers came in rated below the field's top team, Meat Candy Q, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 19-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-09-08 ← this one | Waller, TX | Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park | 99 | 693.1660 | Race Crew Drum Smokers | Team Chupacabra |
| 2024-09-13 | Waller, TX | Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park | 67 | 694.3772 | Chillin & Grillin Texas BBQ | Flying G BBQ |
| 2025-09-12 | Waller, TX | Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park | 92 | 698.8344 | Rio Valley Meat BBQ | The Pitfather BBQ |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.7372 | 175.4628 | 174.2856 |
| Pork Ribs | 179.4400 | 177.1428 | 174.8572 |
| Pork | 178.8800 | 177.7144 | 174.9144 |
| Brisket | 177.7372 | 176.5600 | 173.1200 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
99 entries · top 693.1660 · median 662.2284
Chicken
98 entries · top 177.7372 · median 166.2514
Pork Ribs
99 entries · top 179.4400 · median 167.3944
Pork
99 entries · top 178.8800 · median 166.8684
Brisket
98 entries · top 177.7372 · median 163.9828