In this edition
Every sanctioned contest scored in April 2024 — 1 Apr to 30 Apr.
Covering KCBS-sanctioned contests
April 2024 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
Sure Shot BBQ put up 706.8460 at Cedar Fest BBQ Cookoff — the highest overall of the month.
Hottest hand
Optimus Swine took 2 Grand Championships in April 2024.
First one ever
Wabash BBQ won their first Grand Championship at Smokin' in the Creek BBQ Contest, in their 88th contest in the data.
- 26 Apr
Title defended
WE WILL ROCK QUE won Smoke on the Falls again — back-to-back Grand Championships at the same contest.
- 2023–2024
- field of 31
Upset of the month
The ratings gave them a 10% chance
The good, the bad & the pitbitches won De Vliegende Hollander BBQ Contest 2024 over top-rated IQ - NETHERLANDS as the ratings underdog.
Perfect 180s
Six judges, every card a 9: 48 perfect 180s were handed out in April 2024.
- Chicken ×21
- Brisket ×13
- Pork ×8
- Pork Ribs ×6
Closest call
WE WILL ROCK QUE edged FRED VEGAS SMOKERS by 0.0000 at Smoke on the Falls.
- Master Series
Back on top
Buckshot's BBQ won Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 2) — their first Grand Championship since April 2019, after 23 contests without one.
- last won April 2019
- 23 contests in between
Contest record
CHUNKY BBQ put up 705.6800 at Marietta River City BBQ — the best overall in 9 editions of the contest on record, past the old mark of 705.1432.
- old record 705.1432
- 8 earlier editions
Biggest riser
LG bbq gained 29 rating points across 2 contests — the biggest climb of the month.
- 2 contests
- now #773 overall
State champions crowned
20 state championships were decided in April 2024. The biggest, Smoke in the Spring (97 teams), went to Burnt Trees.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Texas
- California
Best debut
Yardogs BBQ finished 1st at New Jersey KnoQ-out - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (DAY 2) — the first contest they appear in anywhere in the data.
- 160 new teams in Apr 2024
- field of 27
Best in the backyard
Smokey Bees BBQ - MS put up 356.5716 on the Backyard board at Smoke on the Falls — two meats, a different scale, and the same nerves.
- 9 Backyard boards in Apr 2024
- won it
Biggest blowout
Sure Shot BBQ won Cedar Fest BBQ Cookoff by 11.9544 points over Texas Chrome Hero's — the widest winning margin of the month.
- field of 40
Biggest field
Smoke in the Spring drew 97 teams, and Burnt Trees won it.
- Osage City, KS
Milestone
LEE LA Q cooked their 100th contest on record at Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY), with 8 Grand Championships along the way.
- 8 GCs along the way
Road warriors
Professor Smoke cooked 9 contests in April 2024 — nobody hauled the rig further.
- best finish 21st
Won without a meat
BURNT TREES BBQ won Smoke in the Spring without winning a single meat — their best category finish was 5th.
- field of 97
New on the calendar
GLBBQA Spring Fling ran for the first time on record, drawing 62 teams, and Poppa Pig? won it. Somebody put in the work to make a new contest happen.
- 10 first editions in Apr 2024
- Charlotte, MI
Busiest weekend
7 sanctioned contests were cooked on 26 Apr alone.
- 26 Apr
Rep of the month
Alan Rothrock repped 5 contests in April 2024 — somebody has to run the table.
The Boards
Highest overall scores (Master · /720)
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sure Shot BBQ Cedar Fest BBQ Cookoff |
706.8460 |
| 2 | Poppa Pig GLBBQA Spring Fling |
706.3088 |
| 3 | BURNT TREES BBQ Smoke in the Spring |
706.2628 |
| 4 | HOT CHIHUAHUA BARBECUE Lake Views & BBQ |
705.6916 |
| 5 | Rhythm n QUE BBQ Boots & Brew |
705.6800 |
| 6 | CHUNKY BBQ Marietta River City BBQ |
705.6800 |
| 7 | Kith n' Kin 12th Annual Bull Moose BBQ |
705.6684 |
| 8 | Damn Fine Beef & Swine Smoke in the Spring |
705.0972 |
| 9 | THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE SMOKE Smoke in the Spring |
704.5488 |
| 10 | Wabash BBQ Smokin' in the Creek BBQ Contest |
703.9544 |
| 11 | HIGH ON THE HAWG 12th Annual Bull Moose BBQ |
703.3944 |
| 12 | Meat Candy Q BBQ Boots & Brew |
703.3944 |
| 13 | B' Mackin BBQ BBQ Boots & Brew |
703.3828 |
| 14 | WOOD HOOK BBQ Lake Views & BBQ |
702.8688 |
| 15 | O' Town Que Lake Views & BBQ |
702.8456 |
Best of each meat (both series · /180)
| Category | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken ×21 💯 | Sure Shot BBQ Cedar Fest BBQ Cookoff |
180 |
| Pork Ribs ×6 💯 | Mr. Dudes BBQ Smoke in the Spring |
180 |
| Pork ×8 💯 | FINGER LEIKAM GOOD Smoke in the Spring |
180 |
| Brisket ×13 💯 | SUPER SWINE Lake Views & BBQ |
180 |
Straight nines (perfect 180s)
…and 24 more in April 2024.
On the move (power rating)
| Team | Rating | Apr 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| LG bbq No. 773 in the power rankings |
1,631 | +29 |
| BEER TIME BBQ No. 730 in the power rankings |
1,636 | +29 |
| T-Squared BBQ No. 1,206 in the power rankings |
1,587 | +27 |
| BLUE & GRAY BBQ No. 514 in the power rankings |
1,674 | +27 |
| smokey anderson bbq No. 6,476 in the power rankings |
1,347 | +26 |
| Rough Cut Q No. 238 in the power rankings |
1,745 | +25 |
| Buckshot's BBQ No. 683 in the power rankings |
1,645 | +25 |
| OFF THE CHAIN No. 1,347 in the power rankings |
1,576 | +24 |
| Yardogs BBQ No. 444 in the power rankings |
1,689 | +24 |
| Mad Rocket Barbecue No. 560 in the power rankings |
1,667 | +23 |
| HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ No. 307 in the power rankings |
1,723 | -28 |
| FIRE AT THE END OF THE DAY No. 96 in the power rankings |
1,811 | -30 |
| REDNECK SCIENTIFIC No. 247 in the power rankings |
1,743 | -31 |
| Dogpatch Q No. 259 in the power rankings |
1,737 | -35 |
| Professor Smoke No. 6,489 in the power rankings |
1,299 | -53 |
Who showed up
| Team | Contests | GCs | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professor Smoke | 9 | — | 21 |
| Grandpa Val's BBQ | 8 | — | 6 |
| CHUNKY BBQ | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| SmoKEN Meatz | 7 | — | 4 |
| Live Q or Die | 7 | — | 6 |
| SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA | 6 | — | 2 |
| Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit | 6 | — | 3 |
| STICKS & STONES BBQ | 5 | — | 4 |
| Optimus Swine | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| ELJEFE SMOKE | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Off The Rack BBQ | 4 | — | 2 |
| Heavy Smoke BBQ | 4 | — | 3 |
| PADDY MCQ'S | 4 | — | 3 |
| LEE LA Q | 4 | — | 5 |
Who ran the table
| Rep | Contests | States |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Rothrock | 5 | 3 |
| Bill Jones | 4 | 3 |
| Bill Wright | 4 | 1 |
| Jeff Chambers | 4 | 1 |
| Kim Wright | 4 | 1 |
| Luca Famigli | 4 | — |
| Regina Bodnar | 4 | 1 |
| Becky Druetzler | 3 | 2 |
| Charlie Brinza | 3 | 3 |
| Clara Williams | 3 | 1 |
| Dave Druetzler | 3 | 2 |
| Doug Reid | 3 | 2 |
| Janet Appleton | 3 | 2 |
| Jonathan B Williams | 3 | 1 |
| Sam Appleton | 3 | 2 |
| Alex Jr Brown | 2 | 1 |
| Bunny Tuttle | 2 | 2 |
| Carol Bigler | 2 | 1 |
| Carolyn Wells | 2 | 2 |
| Haymo Gutweniger | 2 | — |
Where they cooked
| State/Prov. | Contests | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 4 | 49 |
| Connecticut | 4 | 42 |
| Alabama | 3 | 110 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 97 |
| California | 2 | 80 |
| Virginia | 2 | 54 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 43 |
| Ohio | 2 | 14 |
| Kansas | 1 | 97 |
| Michigan | 1 | 62 |
| Georgia | 1 | 55 |
| Missouri | 1 | 44 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 44 |
| Texas | 1 | 40 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 25 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 21 |
Best in the backyard (Backyard · /360)
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smokey Bees BBQ - MS Smoke on the Falls |
356.5716 |
| 2 | Buckshot's BBQ Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 2) |
353.7144 |
| 3 | Mad Rocket Barbecue Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) |
353.7028 |
| 4 | Shmack Q Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) |
353.1200 |
| 5 | Small Batch BBQ - TN Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) |
351.9656 |
| 6 | Pork Posse Lake Views & BBQ |
351.4172 |
| 7 | RIBLIFE Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) |
350.8344 |
| 8 | B Team BBQ Lake Views & BBQ |
350.2744 |
| 9 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) |
349.7144 |
| 10 | Deviant Smoke Smoke on the Falls |
349.6916 |
| 11 | Country Boys BBQ Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 1) |
349.6916 |
| 12 | Rollin Smoke BBQ Smoke on the Falls |
349.1316 |
New to the circuit
First editions (new on the calendar)
| Contest | Teams | Won by |
|---|---|---|
| GLBBQA Spring Fling Charlotte, MI |
62 | Poppa Pig? |
| Lodi BeerFest & State BBQ Championship Lodi, CA |
34 | Small Axe BBQ |
| "Smokin' Ribs Showdown" (ONE MEAT RIBS) #1 Brescia, Italy |
29 | Griller unchained |
| "Smokin' Ribs Showdown" (ONE MEAT RIBS) #2 Brescia, Italy |
26 | Luna Smoke |
| Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 1) Williamsburg, VA |
25 | 3 EYZ BBQ |
| BBQ Fest Costa Rica 2024 Heredia, Costa Rica |
24 | Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ |
| De Vliegende Hollander BBQ Contest 2024 Terneuzen, Netherlands |
23 | The good, the bad & the pitbitches |
| The Ironman Seven Valleys, PA |
21 | Chunky BBQ |
| 12th Annual Bull Moose BBQ Somerville, TN |
14 | Kith n' Kin |
| World Championship Hot Wings Contest & Festival (COMPETITORS SERIES) Memphis, TN |
— | — |
Running a contest? The organizer tools →
Every contest scored (34 in April 2024)
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.