HELLFIRE BBQ

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#4890

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1465

peak 1465 · rated over 8 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2013-04-19

latest 2018-09-14

Best ToY finish

#2446

Master 2013

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

1 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 8 contests

Avg finish

top 70%

overall standings

Best overall

658.2516 / 720

Master · Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival

Perfect 180s

Current form

643.63 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 633.52 (+10.11)

Walk rate

25%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

178.8800

Chicken · Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival

Consistency

±18.40

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 161.70 · weakest Brisket (150.89)

Road miles

2,764

mi across 8 mapped stops · furthest 1030 mi

Schedule strength

28%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1538)

Master avg

633.52 / 720

8 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (6 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.

Their season

2014 their best year

2014 was the year it came together: 3 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 1 category win, at an average finish in the top 55%.

3 contests
1 overall top-10s
1 category wins
average top 55%

A tough matchup

5–0 behind in the head-to-head

SPITFIRE ahead in 100% of their meetings

SPITFIRE has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.

The weak link

−10.8 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 10.81 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 25%.

Brisket avg 150.89
Chicken avg 161.70
0 calls in 8 entries

The comeback

3.7 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 3.7 years, then back at Minnesota in May (2018-05-11).

last seen 2014-08-22
back 2018-05-11

Chicken nemesis

5 of 5 shared chicken entries lost

SPITFIRE ahead 100% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SPITFIRE has out-cooked them in 5 of 5 shared chicken entries.

An August team

Top 59% average finish in August

Something about August: average finish in the top 59% across 4 contests, versus top 70% the rest of the year.

4 August contests
top 70% the rest of the year

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.

143 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Ol' Blue BBQ

#4909 of the rated field

1464 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2026-04-24

⚔ Head-to-head

Chasing Grand

#4903 of the rated field

1464 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 9 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 9 contests
last seen 2023-09-08

⚔ Head-to-head

SMOKIN BULLETS

#4882 of the rated field

1465 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1465

No shared contest yet.

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.

rated over 9 contests
last seen 2019-03-15

⚔ Head-to-head

Pretty Straights BBQ

#4888 of the rated field

1465 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1465

No shared contest yet.

Level with HELLFIRE BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 7 contests
last seen 2026-06-26

⚔ Head-to-head

DRUM-B-QUE

#4891 of the rated field

1465 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1510

No shared contest yet.

They've been 1510 at their best, 45 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 7 contests
last seen 2020-08-21

⚔ Head-to-head

TOTALLY SMOKIN

#4896 of the rated field

1464 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 7 contests
last seen 2019-09-27

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SPITFIRE	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
TRUE SMOKE BBQ	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	8	2	1	1	178.8800	143.9772	161.70	top 61%
Pork Ribs	8	1	0	0	170.2744	154.8570	161.33	top 59%
Pork	8	0	0	0	166.2400	154.7884	159.61	top 64%
Brisket	8	0	0	0	167.4056	138.8574	150.89	top 75%

“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 state / province

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
MN	5	0	top 77%
NY	3	0	top 59%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	3	0	top 61%
Large (40+)	5	0	top 76%

The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 5.4 yrs 2013-04-19 → 2018-09-14

Busiest season 2018 3 contests

Contests a season 2.7 across 3 seasons in the data

Cooks most in MN 5 of 8 contests · 2 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 8 0 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 8 entries · 1 win · 2 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 161.70 · weakest Brisket (150.89)

Walk rate 25% a top-10 call in 2 of 8 contests

Overall top-10 rate 13% 1 of 8 contests

Master average 633.52 out of 720 · 8 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 248 102–256 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 2,764 8 mapped stops · furthest 1,030 mi

Schedule strength 1538 average field rating faced — tougher than 28% of rated contests

Longest layoff 3.7 yrs 2014-08-22 → 2018-05-11

Power rating 1465 peak 1465 · #4890 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2013
Apr 19 First tracked contest New York City BBQ Cookoff
Apr 19 Peak power rating (1493) New York City BBQ Cookoff
2014
Aug 8 First call Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival
Aug 8 First category win (Chicken) Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival
Aug 8 First overall top-10 Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival
Aug 8 First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.2516 Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival
Aug 8 Career-best overall score658.2516 Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival
Aug 8 Career-best single call (Chicken)178.8800 Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival
2018
Sep 14 Most recent contest KTD Smokin ' Gobbler Cook-Off

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+7.6	Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival	2014-08-08

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-9.7	Minnesota in May	2018-05-11
-8.8	Crossborder Blues, Brews & Que	2014-06-13
-7.5	KTD Smokin ' Gobbler Cook-Off	2018-09-14
-6.7	New York City BBQ Cookoff	2013-04-19
-5.1	6th Annual Big Island BBQ	2013-08-23

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)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2018	3	0	0	33%	top 85%	89.7%	88.2%
2014	3	1	1	33%	top 55%	91.4%	89.2%
2013	2	0	0	0%	top 70%	88.1%	85.9%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2018-09-14	KTD Smokin ' Gobbler Cook-Off Worthington, MN	22 / 25 (645.5884)	16 (165.6800)	21 (160.5716)	21 (160.5372)	21 (158.7996)
2018-08-24	11th Annual Big Island BBQ Alberta Lea, MN	39 / 49 (636.4228)	9 (173.7144)	40 (159.9544)	34 (159.3712)	44 (143.3828)
2018-05-11	Minnesota in May Falcon Heights, MN	62 / 70 (622.6056)	61 (158.2400)	59 (156.5028)	31 (166.2400)	69 (141.6228)
2014-08-22	Big Island BBQ Albert Lea, MN	32 / 54 (655.2800)	35 (164.5372)	19 (168.5488)	47 (154.7884)	23 (167.4056)
2014-08-08	Smokin' Eagles International BBQ Festival N. Tonawanda, NY	10 / 39 (658.2516)	1 (178.8800)	5 (170.2744)	19 (163.4172)	35 (145.6800)
2014-06-13	Crossborder Blues, Brews & Que Wilson, NY	38 / 47 (612.4688)	41 (143.9772)	28 (158.8000)	28 (157.1200)	30 (152.5716)
2013-08-23	6th Annual Big Island BBQ Albert Lea, MN	35 / 50 (634.1372)	41 (156.5372)	32 (161.0972)	40 (157.7028)	25 (158.8000)
2013-04-19	New York City BBQ Cookoff Staten Island, NY	23 / 33 (603.4286)	26 (152.0000)	16 (154.8570)	14 (157.7142)	28 (138.8574)

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
2013 ↗	Master	#2446 (68 pts)	#2618 (58 pts)	#1901 (103 pts)	#1863 (113 pts)	#2629 (58 pts)