In this edition
Every sanctioned contest scored in April 2025 — 1 Apr to 30 Apr.
Covering KCBS-sanctioned contests
April 2025 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
BOGGS HOG BBQ put up 709.6916 at Rekindled Ironman — the highest overall of the month.
Hottest hand
GETTIN' BASTED took 3 Grand Championships in April 2025.
First one ever
SMOKEY GQ won their first Grand Championship at Iowa State BBQ Championship, in their 36th contest in the data.
- 4 Apr
Title defended
GETTIN' BASTED won Wild West BBQ Cook-Off again — back-to-back Grand Championships at the same contest.
- 2024–2025
- field of 30
Upset of the month
The ratings gave them a 9% chance
Rack Shack bbq won Iowa State BBQ Championship over top-rated JANKY LEG BBQ as the ratings underdog.
Perfect 180s
Six judges, every card a 9: 28 perfect 180s were handed out in April 2025.
- Chicken ×12
- Pork Ribs ×7
- Pork ×6
- Brisket ×3
Closest call
GETTIN' BASTED edged BBQ Maestros by 0.0000 at GLBBQA Spring Fling.
- Master Series
Back on top
PARTS 'R' SMOKIN won Smoke in the Spring — their first Grand Championship since August 2021, after 90 contests without one.
- last won August 2021
- 90 contests in between
Contest record
PARTS 'R' SMOKIN put up 708.6060 at Smoke in the Spring — the best overall in 13 editions of the contest on record, past the old mark of 707.9772.
- old record 707.9772
- 12 earlier editions
Biggest riser
BEER TIME BBQ gained 25 rating points across 2 contests — the biggest climb of the month.
- 2 contests
- now #730 overall
State champions crowned
17 state championships were decided in April 2025. The biggest, Smoke in the Spring (92 teams), went to Parts 'R' Smokin.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Connecticut
- Mississippi
Best debut
Briskey Business BBQ finished 1st at Smoke & Fire (BACKYARD ONLY) — the first contest they appear in anywhere in the data.
- 100 new teams in Apr 2025
- field of 24
Best in the backyard
Char-Cole Grillers put up 358.2972 on the Backyard board at BBQ & Boogie — two meats, a different scale, and the same nerves.
- 7 Backyard boards in Apr 2025
- won it
Biggest blowout
BUNCH OF SWINES won Spitsbroek on Fire Pt. 2 by 13.2116 points over The Antwerp Smokers — the widest winning margin of the month.
- field of 15
Biggest field
Smoke in the Spring drew 92 teams, and Parts 'R' Smokin won it.
- Osage City, KS
Milestone
iBQ'n cooked their 200th contest on record at GLBBQA Spring Fling, with 22 Grand Championships along the way.
- 22 GCs along the way
Road warriors
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit cooked 7 contests in April 2025 — nobody hauled the rig further.
- best finish 1st
- 2 GCs
Won without a meat
PARTS 'R' SMOKIN won Smoke in the Spring without winning a single meat — their best category finish was 6th.
- field of 92
New on the calendar
BBQ & Boogie ran for the first time on record, drawing 32 teams, and Poppa Pig won it. Somebody put in the work to make a new contest happen.
- 8 first editions in Apr 2025
- Calhoun, GA
Busiest weekend
10 sanctioned contests were cooked on 25 Apr alone.
- 25 Apr
Rep of the month
Bill Wright repped 4 contests in April 2025 — somebody has to run the table.
The Boards
Highest overall scores (Master · /720)
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BOGGS HOG BBQ Rekindled Ironman |
709.6916 |
| 2 | Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit Southern New England Barbecue Throwdown - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (DAY 2) |
709.1084 |
| 3 | PARTS 'R' SMOKIN Smoke in the Spring |
708.6060 |
| 4 | GETTIN' BASTED Southern New England Barbecue Throwdown - CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (DAY 2) |
707.9772 |
| 5 | Poppa Pig BBQ & Boogie |
707.4056 |
| 6 | Blue Smoke Q Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
706.2284 |
| 7 | Cow Creek BBQ Smoke in the Spring |
705.0972 |
| 8 | ZIPS BBQ Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
705.0856 |
| 9 | Poppa Pig Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
705.0856 |
| 10 | Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 2) |
705.0856 |
| 11 | GETTIN' BASTED GLBBQA Spring Fling |
704.5256 |
| 12 | BBQ Maestros GLBBQA Spring Fling |
704.5256 |
| 13 | FINGER LEIKAM GOOD Smokin' in the Creek BBQ Contest |
703.3828 |
| 14 | Smokey Bey's Barbecue Smoke in the Spring |
703.3712 |
| 15 | Kings BBQ Team Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
703.3712 |
Best of each meat (both series · /180)
| Category | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken ×12 💯 | MACHETE BOYS BBQ Iowa State BBQ Championship |
180 |
| Pork Ribs ×7 💯 | All Smoked Up BBQ Iowa State BBQ Championship |
180 |
| Pork ×6 💯 | Smokey Bey's Barbecue Smoke in the Spring |
180 |
| Brisket ×3 💯 | PHILLY BLIND PIG BBQ Rekindled Ironman |
180 |
Straight nines (perfect 180s)
…and 4 more in April 2025.
On the move (power rating)
| Team | Rating | Apr 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| BEER TIME BBQ No. 730 in the power rankings |
1,636 | +25 |
| SmoKEN Meatz No. 1,373 in the power rankings |
1,574 | +25 |
| Pinky Out BBQ No. 326 in the power rankings |
1,718 | +24 |
| Rough Cut Q No. 238 in the power rankings |
1,745 | +24 |
| Skinny Pig BBQ No. 491 in the power rankings |
1,679 | +23 |
| TENNESSEE SMOKE SHOWIN No. 867 in the power rankings |
1,620 | +23 |
| Low Eye Que No. 711 in the power rankings |
1,640 | +22 |
| Smokey Bey's Barbecue No. 244 in the power rankings |
1,743 | +20 |
| Take It Easy BBQ No. 687 in the power rankings |
1,644 | +20 |
| HotMess BBQ No. 267 in the power rankings |
1,733 | +20 |
| LBLLC BBQ | 1,458 | -19 |
| Connecticue No. 5,720 in the power rankings |
1,445 | -23 |
| JANKY LEG BBQ No. 3 in the power rankings |
1,959 | -26 |
| BUCKSHOT BBQ - TX No. 2,408 in the power rankings |
1,523 | -29 |
| Shmack Q No. 515 in the power rankings |
1,674 | -30 |
Who showed up
| Team | Contests | GCs | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Buckeye Blue Smoke BBQ | 6 | — | 5 |
| House of Que | 6 | — | 7 |
| GETTIN' BASTED | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| ELJEFE SMOKE | 4 | — | 3 |
| PADDY MCQ'S | 4 | — | 3 |
| SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA | 4 | — | 4 |
| SmoKEN Meatz | 4 | — | 4 |
| STICKS & STONES BBQ | 4 | — | 6 |
| Grandpa Val's BBQ | 4 | — | 10 |
| HUMPHREY'S BBQ | 4 | — | 14 |
| Professor Smoke | 4 | — | 28 |
| BOGGS HOG BBQ | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Poppa Pig | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Rough Cut Q | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Who ran the table
| Rep | Contests | States |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Wright | 4 | 1 |
| Kim Wright | 4 | 1 |
| Becky Druetzler | 3 | 2 |
| Dave Druetzler | 3 | 2 |
| Alex Jr Brown | 2 | 1 |
| Bill Jones | 2 | 1 |
| Bunny Tuttle | 2 | 2 |
| Carolyn Wells | 2 | 2 |
| David Dyche | 2 | 1 |
| Jo Dyche | 2 | 1 |
| Karen Jane Williams | 2 | 1 |
| Natasha Loew | 2 | — |
| Ralph Williams | 2 | 1 |
| Rich Tuttle | 2 | 2 |
| Alan Rothrock | 1 | 1 |
| Brenda Black | 1 | 1 |
| Brian Moore | 1 | 1 |
| Carol Bigler | 1 | 1 |
| Charlie Brinza | 1 | 1 |
| Cindy Juhl | 1 | 1 |
Where they cooked
| State/Prov. | Contests | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | 4 | 42 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 65 |
| California | 2 | 54 |
| Virginia | 2 | 43 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 41 |
| Kansas | 1 | 107 |
| Iowa | 1 | 85 |
| Alabama | 1 | 79 |
| Michigan | 1 | 56 |
| Georgia | 1 | 51 |
| Missouri | 1 | 40 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 32 |
| Colorado | 1 | 30 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 24 |
| Ohio | 1 | 10 |
Best in the backyard (Backyard · /360)
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Char-Cole Grillers BBQ & Boogie |
358.2972 |
| 2 | FIRE & SHINE BBQ Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 1) |
356 |
| 3 | Electro-Que-ted BBQ & Boogie |
355.4172 |
| 4 | SMOKEY GQ Iowa State BBQ Championship |
354.2744 |
| 5 | Fire Pig Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
354.2744 |
| 6 | Capt. Blue BBQ Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 1) |
353.1544 |
| 7 | The Bearded Bandits Iowa State BBQ Championship |
353.1316 |
| 8 | Cook Shak BBQ MS Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
353.1316 |
| 9 | Wee Daddy's BBQ Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
353.1200 |
| 10 | Electro-Que-ted Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition |
351.9772 |
| 11 | Pinky Out BBQ Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 2) |
351.4288 |
| 12 | Bramble BBQ Iowa State BBQ Championship |
351.4172 |
New to the circuit
First editions (new on the calendar)
| Contest | Teams | Won by |
|---|---|---|
| BBQ & Boogie Calhoun, GA |
32 | Poppa Pig |
| Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition Gadsden, AL |
31 | Blue Smoke Q |
| Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITOR SERIES) Murfreesboro, TN |
31 | LEE LA Q |
| Rekindled Ironman Seven Valleys, PA |
23 | Boggs Hog BBQ |
| BBQ Fest Panama Panama, Pa, Panama |
23 | Grill and Chill |
| Revolutionary BBQ Brawl (Day 1) Williamsburg, VA |
20 | MUTTLEY CREW BBQ |
| Smokin on the Rez Ridgeland, MS |
17 | LC BBQ |
| Spitsbroek on Fire Pt. 2 Eede Holland, Netherlands |
15 | Bunch of Swines |
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Every contest scored (25 in April 2025)
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.