In this edition
Every sanctioned contest scored in April 2019 — 1 Apr to 30 Apr.
Covering KCBS-sanctioned contests
April 2019 in BBQ
The recap: every contest scored, every story, every board
Inside
The Stories
Score of the month
top 1% of every Master overall ever scored
CLARK CREW BBQ put up 706.2400 at Smoke In the Springs — the highest overall of the month.
Hottest hand
BUNCH OF SWINES took 3 Grand Championships in April 2019.
First one ever
Texas-car-b-que won their first Grand Championship at Cedar Fest BBQ Cook-Off, in their 45th contest in the data.
- 5 Apr
Title defended
BOOMERANG BBQ won LuLu's Brew & Que again — back-to-back Grand Championships at the same contest.
- 2018–2019
- field of 40
Upset of the month
The ratings gave them a 5% chance
Hickory Stick BBQ won BBQ, Bikes and Blues over top-rated SHAKE 'N BAKE BBQ as the ratings underdog.
Perfect 180s
Six judges, every card a 9: 35 perfect 180s were handed out in April 2019.
- Chicken ×10
- Pork Ribs ×9
- Pork ×9
- Brisket ×7
Closest call
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit edged DRILLING & GRILLING by 0.0224 at Interstate BBQ Festival.
- Master Series
Back on top
R BUTTS R SMOKIN won Rock N Ribs BBQ Festival — their first Grand Championship since March 2017, after 24 contests without one.
- last won March 2017
- 24 contests in between
Contest record
Texas-car-b-que put up 701.7372 at Cedar Fest BBQ Cook-Off — the best overall in 4 editions of the contest on record, past the old mark of 693.6800.
- old record 693.6800
- 3 earlier editions
Near sweep
BUNCH OF SWINES won 3 of 4 meats at Eastern BBQ Contest Day 1 (chicken, pork ribs and pork), and the Grand Championship with them.
- Chicken
- Pork Ribs
- Pork
- and the GC
Biggest riser
LEE LA Q gained 47 rating points across 4 contests — the biggest climb of the month.
- 4 contests
- now #249 overall
State champions crowned
30 state championships were decided in April 2019. The biggest, Smoke In the Springs (104 teams), went to Clark Crew BBQ.
- Kansas
- Texas
- Missouri
- Maryland
- California
- North Carolina
Best debut
THREE CROSSES BBQ finished 1st at Interstate BBQ Festival — the first contest they appear in anywhere in the data.
- 260 new teams in Apr 2019
- field of 54
Best in the backyard
REDBONES BBQ put up 356.5944 on the Backyard board at Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) — two meats, a different scale, and the same nerves.
- 9 Backyard boards in Apr 2019
- won it
Biggest blowout
BUNCH OF SWINES won 4th Meat Smoke and Beer BBQ Competition by 18.2512 points over GRILLSPITZ BBQ HUNTERS — the widest winning margin of the month.
- field of 16
Biggest field
Smoke In the Springs drew 104 teams, and Clark Crew BBQ won it.
- Osage City, KS
Milestone
SMOKE ON THIS cooked their 200th contest on record at High on the Hog Festival, with 7 Grand Championships along the way.
- 7 GCs along the way
Road warriors
UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q cooked 6 contests in April 2019 — nobody hauled the rig further.
- best finish 2nd
Won without a meat
CLARK CREW BBQ won Smoke In the Springs without winning a single meat — their best category finish was 2nd.
- field of 104
New on the calendar
Smoke In the Springs ran for the first time on record, drawing 104 teams, and Clark Crew BBQ won it. Somebody put in the work to make a new contest happen.
- 12 first editions in Apr 2019
- Osage City, KS
Always the reserve
SHAKE 'N BAKE BBQ finished second overall 2 times in April 2019 without a Grand Championship — one place short every time.
- 2 contests
Busiest weekend
17 sanctioned contests were cooked on 26 Apr alone.
- 26 Apr
Rep of the month
Michael Eberle repped 2 contests in April 2019 — somebody has to run the table.
The Boards
Highest overall scores (Master · /720)
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CLARK CREW BBQ Smoke In the Springs |
706.2400 |
| 2 | RAZORRACKS Southaven Springfest |
704.5256 |
| 3 | 4 LEGS UP BBQ Pork-A-Palooza |
704 |
| 4 | Hogline Smoke In the Springs |
703.3944 |
| 5 | GETTIN' BASTED The Best Dam BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake |
703.3944 |
| 6 | CONTINENTAL BARBEQUE CO. Operation Stand Down KY II Annual Smoke off |
703.3828 |
| 7 | BUNCH OF SWINES 4th Meat Smoke and Beer BBQ Competition |
703.3712 |
| 8 | BOOMERANG BBQ Smoke On the Border |
702.8232 |
| 9 | Texas-car-b-que Cedar Fest BBQ Cook-Off |
701.7372 |
| 10 | AMERICAN FIRE BBQ Smoke On the Border |
701.7260 |
| 11 | BUNCH OF SWINES Eastern BBQ Contest Day 1 |
701.1544 |
| 12 | DEAD BIRD BBQ Pork-A-Palooza |
701.0972 |
| 13 | HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' RUB Smoke In the Springs |
701.0856 |
| 14 | BOOMERANG BBQ LuLu's Brew & Que |
701.0856 |
| 15 | CONTAGIOUS Q Smoke on the Falls |
699.9656 |
Best of each meat (both series · /180)
| Category | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken ×10 💯 | SMOKE THIS BBQ MO Smoke In the Springs |
180 |
| Pork Ribs ×9 💯 | BLUE CHIP BBQ Operation Stand Down KY II Annual Smoke off |
180 |
| Pork ×9 💯 | CONTINENTAL BARBEQUE CO. Operation Stand Down KY II Annual Smoke off |
180 |
| Brisket ×7 💯 | PEACE LOVE & SMOKINESS CCSFest |
180 |
Straight nines (perfect 180s)
…and 11 more in April 2019.
On the move (power rating)
| Team | Rating | Apr 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| LEE LA Q No. 249 in the power rankings |
1,742 | +47 |
| Sweet Cheeks BBQ No. 501 in the power rankings |
1,677 | +42 |
| Knockstone BBQ Team Austria No. 488 in the power rankings |
1,680 | +41 |
| GRILLSPITZ BBQ HUNTERS No. 3,651 in the power rankings |
1,490 | +38 |
| SMILIN' DRAGON BBQ No. 452 in the power rankings |
1,687 | +34 |
| Thin Blue Swine No. 842 in the power rankings |
1,624 | +33 |
| MAN MEAT BBQ No. 129 in the power rankings |
1,788 | +32 |
| Blowin Smoke BBQ No. 5,875 in the power rankings |
1,440 | +32 |
| Small Batch BBQ - TN No. 575 in the power rankings |
1,663 | +30 |
| Heavy Smoke BBQ No. 112 in the power rankings |
1,800 | +30 |
| POPS' SMOKIN' BBQ No. 4,265 in the power rankings |
1,478 | -21 |
| Smoking Section No. 3,333 in the power rankings |
1,497 | -21 |
| Smokermaker No. 6,096 in the power rankings |
1,429 | -21 |
| Extra Mile BBQ No. 947 in the power rankings |
1,611 | -22 |
| SWINE AND SHINE BBQ No. 522 in the power rankings |
1,672 | -23 |
Who showed up
| Team | Contests | GCs | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNCLE TONY'S COCKNEY Q | 6 | — | 2 |
| White Squirrel BBQ | 6 | — | 2 |
| BUNCH OF SWINES | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| BOOMERANG BBQ | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 LEGS UP BBQ | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| CLARK CREW BBQ | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Fergolicious BBQ | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| GETTIN' BASTED | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| IQ - NETHERLANDS | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Knockstone BBQ Team Austria | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| REDBONES BBQ | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Sweet Cheeks BBQ | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| GRILLSPITZ BBQ HUNTERS | 4 | — | 2 |
| LEE LA Q | 4 | — | 2 |
Who ran the table
| Rep | Contests | States |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Eberle | 2 | 2 |
| Alex Jr Brown | 1 | 1 |
| Alfred T Bowen | 1 | 1 |
| Andreas Schnoell | 1 | — |
| Bill Jones | 1 | 1 |
| Bob McKinnon | 1 | 1 |
| Bunny Tuttle | 1 | 1 |
| Carol Bigler | 1 | 1 |
| Dave Amend | 1 | 1 |
| Dave Rogers | 1 | 1 |
| Debra Gage | 1 | 1 |
| Del Anderson | 1 | 1 |
| Dena Milhous | 1 | 1 |
| Eva Schnoell | 1 | — |
| Fran Bowen | 1 | 1 |
| Ian Schmidt | 1 | 1 |
| Jonathan B Williams | 1 | 1 |
| Julie Cook | 1 | 1 |
| Julie Poe | 1 | 1 |
| Karen Jane Williams | 1 | 1 |
Where they cooked
| State/Prov. | Contests | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 5 | 171 |
| Kansas | 3 | 193 |
| Alabama | 3 | 123 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 88 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 86 |
| Indiana | 2 | 75 |
| Maryland | 1 | 84 |
| Virginia | 1 | 71 |
| Texas | 1 | 63 |
| Georgia | 1 | 54 |
| California | 1 | 48 |
| New Jersey | 1 | 44 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 43 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 42 |
| Colorado | 1 | 40 |
| Florida | 1 | 37 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 32 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 31 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 29 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 28 |
Best in the backyard (Backyard · /360)
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | REDBONES BBQ Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) |
356.5944 |
| 2 | PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) |
356 |
| 3 | LEE LA Q Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) |
353.1428 |
| 4 | PERFECTLY BLENDED Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) |
353.1316 |
| 5 | Blowin Smoke BBQ Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY) |
350.8344 |
| 6 | PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY) |
349.7028 |
| 7 | Sweet Cheeks BBQ High on the Hog Festival |
349.1544 |
| 8 | Wright On Que Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) |
349.1200 |
| 9 | LEE LA Q High on the Hog Festival |
347.9772 |
| 10 | PERFECTLY BLENDED Smoke on the Falls |
346.8456 |
| 11 | Dixie Pigs & Chick's BBQ Team Smoke on the Falls |
346.8228 |
| 12 | LEE LA Q Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY) |
346.8228 |
New to the circuit
First editions (new on the calendar)
| Contest | Teams | Won by |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke In the Springs Osage City, KS |
104 | Clark Crew BBQ |
| VFW Post 846 Battle of the Pits Overland Park, KS |
53 | Man Meat BBQ |
| Smokin In The Creek BBQ Contest Sugar Creek, MO |
42 | ALL FORKED UP FOR Q |
| Meat the East Hengelo, Netherlands |
41 | Backcorner BBQ |
| CCSFest Indianapois, IN |
40 | HEAVY SMOKE STL |
| BBQ, Bikes and Blues Washington, MO |
39 | HICKORY STICK BBQ |
| 14th Annual HANOR Smokin' Red Dirt BBQ Enid, OK |
39 | 4 Legs Up BBQ |
| Eastern BBQ Contest Day 2 Ninove, Belgium |
29 | BBQ |
| Operation Stand Down KY II Annual Smoke off Franklin, KY |
28 | Continental BBQ |
| 2nd Wild King BBQ Competition Tirol, Austria |
28 | Knockstone BBQ Team Austria |
| 5th Barbecue Bulls Championship Salzburg 2019 Salzburg, Austria |
26 | BBQ SunCity Szeged |
| 9th Annual Bull Moose Millington, TN |
25 | Rooters-N-Tooters |
Running a contest? The organizer tools →
Every contest scored (44 in April 2019)
The Archive
Every month with scored results, back to the start of the data. Subscribe to the monthly feed and each one lands as it closes.
2026 (338 contests) · the 2026 season in review
2025 (386 contests) · the 2025 season in review
2024 (343 contests) · the 2024 season in review
2023 (376 contests) · the 2023 season in review
2022 (376 contests) · the 2022 season in review
2021 (310 contests) · the 2021 season in review
2020 (134 contests) · the 2020 season in review
2019 (430 contests) · the 2019 season in review
2018 (480 contests) · the 2018 season in review
2017 (517 contests) · the 2017 season in review
2016 (505 contests) · the 2016 season in review
2015 (494 contests) · the 2015 season in review
2014 (469 contests) · the 2014 season in review
2013 (436 contests) · the 2013 season in review
2012 (1 contest) · the 2012 season in review
Every figure here is computed from the public results at kcbs.us, refreshed nightly. The Smoke Ring is not a publication of the Kansas City Barbeque Society.