A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Rudes BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Rudes BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1493
peak 1493 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2023-08-25
latest 2026-06-19
Best ToY finish
#300
Backyard 2026
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 65%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
325.08
last 3 Backyard vs avg 325.08 (+0.00)
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±6.21
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 161.10 · weakest Pork Ribs (160.32)
Road miles
148
mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 50 mi
Schedule strength
34%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1545)
Purse competed for
$14K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
Backyard avg
325.08 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (1 found in this team's record)
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.
Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 128 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#3506 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1493
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3491 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1503
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3496 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1504
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2014, 9 years before Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#3522 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1507
No shared contest yet.
Level with Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3494 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1513
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3523 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 10 years before Rub Sauce & 2 Smoking Barrels's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.7028 | 153.6456 | 161.10 | top 67% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.1200 | 151.9888 | 160.32 | top 77% |
| Pork | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| Brisket | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 65% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 66% |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2.8 yrs
2023-08-25 → 2026-06-19
Busiest season
2024
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
IL
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
5 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 161.10 · weakest Pork Ribs (160.32)
Walk rate
0%
a top-10 call in 0 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 5 contests
Backyard average
325.08
out of 360 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
67
30–54 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
148
5 mapped stops · furthest 50 mi
Schedule strength
1545
average field rating faced — tougher than 34% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$13,750
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
Longest layoff
1 yrs
2023-08-25 → 2024-09-01
Power rating
1493
peak 1493 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2023
- First tracked contest Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1496) Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2025
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score327.9660 Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2026
- Career-best overall score330.8228 Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)165.7028 Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -3.7 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2023-08-25 |
| -2 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2026-06-19 |
| -1.5 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2025-08-16 |
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
How entries end (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 66% | 91.9% | 91.9% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 65% | 91.1% | 91.1% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 65% | 87.9% | 87.9% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-19 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 27 / 41 (330.8228) | 25 (165.7028) | 32 (165.1200) | — | — |
| 2025-08-16 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 13 / 20 (327.9660) | 11 (163.9544) | 12 (164.0116) | — | — |
| 2024-09-01 | Rib Double Dip (2) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 18 (157.6688) | — | — |
| 2024-09-01 | Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 19 (151.9888) | — | — |
| 2023-08-25 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 17 / 26 (316.4456) | 22 (153.6456) | 12 (162.8000) | — | — |
Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Backyard | #300 (60 pts) | #304 (60 pts) | #311 (60 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #322 (105 pts) | #309 (115 pts) | #326 (110 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | — | — | #362 (78 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | — | — | #918 (152 pts) | — | — |