Smoke Busters MS
Rating
1551
peak 1590
Contests
27
in the data
First seen
2023-08-25
latest 2026-05-29
Best ToY finish
#92
Master 2024
Grand champs
1
0 reserve
Category wins
2
11 podiums
Overall top-10s
9
of 27 contests
Avg finish
top 50%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
683.20 ▼
last 5 vs career avg 685.84 (-2.64)
Walk rate
70%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
4
best run (overall)
Consistency
±7.92
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 173.60 · weakest Brisket (169.73)
Road miles
6171
mi across 27 mapped stops · furthest 394 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
Glamping Grillers has finished one call ahead of Smoke Busters 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
👀 Looking over their shoulder
Piggin' Whiskey has landed one call behind them 3 times.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of Rankin County BBQ Company in 6 of their 8 shared contests.
📅 A September team
Something about September: average finish in the top 34% across 3 contests, versus top 50% the rest of the year.
🃏 Against the odds
Their Grand Championship at Roast N Boast (2024-10-18) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 26-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, Colorado Bulldawg BBQ.
Teams like this (closest power rating, MS first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 25 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 178.8572 | 166.8456 | 173.60 | top 40% |
| Pork Ribs | 27 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 177.7028 | 155.3828 | 170.39 | top 56% |
| Pork | 25 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 178.2972 | 160.4912 | 171.96 | top 45% |
| Brisket | 25 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 178.8572 | 157.0744 | 169.73 | top 49% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS | 9 | 1 | top 48% |
| TN | 7 | 0 | top 63% |
| AL | 3 | 0 | top 59% |
| AR | 3 | 0 | top 20% |
| LA | 2 | 0 | top 35% |
| IL | 1 | 0 | top 67% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 4 | 1 | top 53% |
| Medium (20–39) | 14 | 0 | top 48% |
| Large (40+) | 7 | 0 | top 52% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2025 (13 contests)
- Cooks mostly in MS (9 of 27 contests)
- Most-entered category: Pork Ribs (27 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Roast N Boast (2024-10-18)
- Wins it all in 4% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 685.84
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 690.1828 | 687.61 |
| 2025 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 695.3600 | 682.54 |
| 2024 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 700.5372 | 690.37 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 689.6112 | 679.58 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-29 | Covington World's Oldest Barbeque Contest Covington, TN | 20 / 25 (690.1828) | 11 (176.5600) | 22 (169.6800) | 15 (173.1200) | 17 (170.8228) |
| 2026-04-24 | Southaven Springfest Southaven, MS | 21 / 33 (685.0400) | 24 (169.1084) | 17 (171.9772) | 10 (174.2744) | 18 (169.6800) |
| 2025-10-24 | VPD Back the Blue BBQ Competition Vidalia, LA | 17 / 33 (682.7428) | 17 (167.3828) | 18 (170.2628) | 3 (176.5716) | 14 (168.5256) |
| 2025-10-17 | Roast N Boast Columbus, MS | 9 / 13 (678.7084) | 7 (171.9656) | 5 (171.9772) | 11 (168.5256) | 8 (166.2400) |
| 2025-10-03 | Hub City BBQ Fest (formerly TN River BBQ Fest) Jackson, TN | 13 / 25 (679.3144) | 5 (175.4056) | 20 (167.9888) | 6 (175.4172) | 19 (160.5028) |
| 2025-09-13 | Trekking for CDH Pierron, IL | 18 / 27 (687.3372) | 21 (170.8228) | 19 (170.8344) | 8 (174.2628) | 14 (171.4172) |
| 2025-09-13 | Trekking for CDH (ONE MEAT RIBS) Pierron, IL | — | — | 14 (169.1200) | — | — |
| 2025-06-20 | Poosa Q Montgomery, AL | 30 / 42 (678.7428) | 29 (170.8228) | 18 (171.9656) | 19 (173.1544) | 38 (162.8000) |
| 2025-05-25 | 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Sunday, May 25, 2025) Lebanon, TN | 56 / 70 (680.9940) | 20 (176.5600) | 68 (165.0856) | 45 (171.9656) | 61 (167.3828) |
| 2025-05-24 | 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Saturday, May 24, 2025) Lebanon, TN | 84 / 106 (674.7084) | 46 (173.1200) | 102 (163.3828) | 34 (174.2628) | 90 (163.9428) |
| 2025-05-23 | 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational Ribs (Friday, May 23, 2025) Lebanon, TN | — | — | 39 (167.3828) | — | — |
| 2025-05-02 | Hog Wild BBQ Cookoff and Family Fest Brookhaven, MS | 14 / 27 (689.0628) | 13 (174.2628) | 13 (172.5600) | 3 (177.7144) | 21 (164.5256) |
| 2025-04-25 | Southaven Springfest Southaven, MS | 7 / 34 (695.3600) | 10 (175.4056) | 27 (169.6800) | 2 (178.2972) | 14 (171.9772) |
| 2025-04-04 | Smokin on the Rez Ridgeland, MS | 13 / 17 (678.7772) | 3 (178.8572) | 17 (155.3828) | 6 (176.0116) | 11 (168.5256) |
| 2025-03-14 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship Lebanon, TN | 54 / 100 (682.1600) | 46 (173.1200) | 45 (170.8228) | 48 (170.8344) | 59 (167.3828) |
| 2024-10-25 | VPD Back the Blue BBQ Competition Vidalia, LA | 6 / 31 (692.4800) | 1 (177.7144) | 15 (173.1200) | 16 (170.8228) | 11 (170.8228) |
| 2024-10-18 | Roast N Boast Columbus, MS | 1 / 15 (699.9312) | 4 (174.2628) | 3 (176.5600) | 3 (173.7028) | 2 (175.4056) |
| 2024-10-04 | Poosa Q Montgomery, AL | 21 / 59 (685.6112) | 15 (174.2628) | 8 (174.8572) | 55 (160.4912) | 7 (176.0000) |
| 2024-09-27 | Downtown Jonesboro BBQ Festival Jonesboro, AR | 4 / 27 (700.5372) | 8 (173.1084) | 8 (174.2744) | 2 (178.2972) | 7 (174.8572) |
| 2024-09-20 | Smoke on the Water Pine Bluff, AR | 9 / 42 (686.7884) | 27 (166.8456) | 16 (170.2628) | 12 (173.1200) | 4 (176.5600) |
| 2024-06-07 | Hayden West's Delta Smoke BBQ Contest Wynne, AR | 8 / 33 (694.8000) | 13 (173.1200) | 13 (172.5600) | 14 (170.2628) | 1 (178.8572) |
| 2024-05-17 | Bloomin' BBQ Music & Food Festival Sevierville, TN | 7 / 31 (694.7656) | 8 (174.2628) | 13 (173.1200) | 10 (174.2628) | 12 (173.1200) |
| 2024-05-03 | Hog Wild BBQ & Family Fest Brookhaven, MS | 15 / 25 (678.7316) | 2 (178.8572) | 11 (173.1084) | 13 (169.6916) | 23 (157.0744) |
| 2024-04-26 | Southaven Springfest Southaven, MS | 10 / 44 (693.0740) | 7 (174.8456) | 6 (177.7028) | 30 (168.5600) | 15 (171.9656) |
| 2024-04-12 | Smoke on the Falls Gadsden, AL | 22 / 31 (677.0172) | 14 (175.4172) | 24 (167.3944) | 30 (161.0856) | 9 (173.1200) |
| 2023-11-11 | Biloxi Blues & BBQ Festival Biloxi, MS | 11 / 19 (689.6112) | 5 (175.4056) | 11 (173.1200) | 14 (166.8228) | 6 (174.2628) |
| 2023-08-25 | TN River BBQ Fest Saltillo, TN | 17 / 23 (669.5544) | 18 (168.5372) | 13 (166.2400) | 18 (167.3828) | 11 (167.3944) |
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 ↗ | Master | #547 (153 pts) | #581 (183 pts) | #639 (163 pts) | #461 (233 pts) | #527 (183 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #227 (971 pts) | #194 (1156 pts) | #278 (921 pts) | #105 (1506 pts) | #253 (911 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #92 (1526 pts) | #66 (1692 pts) | #125 (1371 pts) | #133 (1266 pts) | #55 (1712 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1135 (88 pts) | #1228 (83 pts) | #1238 (108 pts) | #1199 (83 pts) | #1059 (118 pts) |
| 2013 ↗ | Master | #1970 (75 pts) | #2073 (75 pts) | #2043 (75 pts) | #2080 (75 pts) | #2034 (75 pts) |