BAPTIZED IN SMOKE

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

Power ranking

#2024

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1537

peak 1537 · rated over 24 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2014-07-03

latest 2017-09-08

Best ToY finish

#613

Master 2016

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

3 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 24 contests

Avg finish

top 55%

overall standings

Best overall

678.2400 / 720

Master · BBQ and Fly In on the River

Perfect 180s

Current form

668.01 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 656.19 (+11.82)

Walk rate

71%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.1544

Pork Ribs · Racing for the BBQ

Consistency

±18.66

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 166.31 · weakest Pork (162.68)

Road miles

421

mi across 24 mapped stops

Schedule strength

52%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1567)

Master avg

656.19 / 720

24 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (7 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.

They almost always walk

71% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 17 of 24 contests

A top-10 category call in 71% of their 24 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

678.2400 career-best overall

94.2% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 678.2400 at BBQ and Fly In on the River — 94.2% of a perfect 720.

Master
2016-08-19

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR BBQ has finished one call ahead of BAPTIZED IN SMOKE 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2016 their best year

2016 was the year it came together: 8 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 44%.

8 contests
0 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 44%

A tough matchup

18–0 behind in the head-to-head

SLAPS BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings

SLAPS BBQ has come out ahead in 18 of their 18 shared contests.

A strong matchup

5–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 71% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of WATER DAWGZ BBQ in 5 of their 7 shared contests.

Pork Ribs nemesis

13 of 18 shared pork ribs entries lost

SLAPS BBQ ahead 72% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SLAPS BBQ has out-cooked them in 13 of 18 shared pork ribs entries.

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.

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

KNOW BULL

#2034 of the rated field

1537 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 17
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 12%
Peak: 1539

2–0 in 2 shared contests (100% to BAPTIZED IN SMOKE)

2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team BAPTIZED IN SMOKE has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 17 contests
last seen 2017-05-05

⚔ Head-to-head

Bearded Monkeys Twisted Q

#2027 of the rated field

1537 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 27
GCs: 2
Top-10s: 26%
Peak: 1585

No shared contest yet.

They've been 1585 at their best, 48 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 25 contests
last seen 2026-06-12

⚔ Head-to-head

SHB Customs

#2026 of the rated field

1537 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 30
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 17%
Peak: 1578

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 30 contests to 24, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 30 contests
last seen 2023-07-29

⚔ Head-to-head

Camp House BBQ

#2015 of the rated field

1538 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 33
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 30%
Peak: 1552

No shared contest yet.

33 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 30% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 33 contests
last seen 2023-08-25

⚔ Head-to-head

Red Rock Cafe

#2028 of the rated field

1537 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 17
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 29%
Peak: 1555

No shared contest yet.

They turned up 7 years after BAPTIZED IN SMOKE did, first appearing in 2021.

rated over 17 contests
last seen 2025-05-16

⚔ Head-to-head

SMOKIN' WITH POPS BBQ TEAM

#2011 of the rated field

1538 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 34
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 26%
Peak: 1563

No shared contest yet.

Level with BAPTIZED IN SMOKE on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 34 contests
last seen 2026-07-11

⚔ Head-to-head

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SLAPS BBQ	18	0	18	0%	⚔ compare
BURNT FINGER BBQ	15	1	14	7%	⚔ compare
JAESTAR BBQ	15	0	15	0%	⚔ compare
THUMP & STRUM BBQ	14	2	12	14%	⚔ compare
DIRT ROAD BBQ	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
VALLEY OAKS STEAK COMPANY	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
Sons of a Brisket	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
SWEET BEAVER BBQ	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
SMOKE THIS BBQ MO	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
50 SHADES OF QUE	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' RUB	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
Theslabs.com	9	3	6	33%	⚔ compare
THE SMOKIN BUDS	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
GEN QUE	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
ALL FORKED UP FOR Q	8	3	5	38%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	24	1	0	174.2744	146.2284	163.02	top 62%
Pork Ribs	24	9	1	177.1544	150.7656	166.31	top 44%
Pork	24	2	1	173.1428	149.1084	162.68	top 61%
Brisket	24	9	1	173.1200	133.0396	164.18	top 43%

“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
MO	18	0	top 54%
KS	6	0	top 58%

By contest size

Field	Contests	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	1	top 69%
Medium (20–39)	10	top 60%
Large (40+)	13	top 49%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
*Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge	2	12	top 41%	2017-06-09
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2	16	top 67%	2017-04-28
The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake	2	17	top 35%	2017-04-07
BBQ and Fly In on the River	2	19	top 39%	2016-08-19
Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out	2	24	top 67%	2015-09-18
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2	15	top 57%	2015-09-11
Holy Smoke BBQ Contest	2	11	top 62%	2015-08-21
Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest	2	13	top 69%	2015-07-03

The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 3.2 yrs 2014-07-03 → 2017-09-08

Busiest season 2016 8 contests

Contests a season 6 across 4 seasons in the data

Cooks most in MO 18 of 24 contests · 2 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 16 8 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 24 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls

Strongest meat Pork Ribs averages 166.31 · weakest Pork (162.68)

Walk rate 71% a top-10 call in 17 of 24 contests

Overall top-10 rate 4% 1 of 24 contests

Master average 656.19 out of 720 · 24 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 938 702–837 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 421 24 mapped stops

Schedule strength 1567 average field rating faced — tougher than 52% of rated contests

Power rating 1537 peak 1537 · #2024 of 6,413 rated

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

2014
Jul 3 First tracked contest Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest
Aug 22 First call Holy Smoke BBQ Contest
Aug 22 First overall past 90% of a perfect score656.4228 Holy Smoke BBQ Contest
2015
Sep 11 10th tracked contest Sam's Club National BBQ Tour
2016
Jul 29 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.1544 Racing for the BBQ
Aug 19 Career-best overall score678.2400 BBQ and Fly In on the River
2017
Sep 8 First overall top-10 Hog Wild West BBQ Contest
Sep 8 Peak power rating (1537) Hog Wild West BBQ Contest
Sep 8 Most recent contest Hog Wild West BBQ Contest

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+9.8	*Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge	2017-06-09
+9.8	The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake	2016-04-08
+8.9	BBQ and Fly In on the River	2016-08-19
+7.7	*Independence Fire & Ice BBQ	2016-09-09
+7.2	Racing for the BBQ	2016-07-29

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11.3	Balloons & BBQ Festival at Kansas Speedway	2014-08-08
-11.2	Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest	2014-07-03
-9	The Best Damn BBQ Contest	2015-04-10
-7.8	Holy Smoke BBQ Contest	2015-08-21
-6.6	Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out	2014-09-19

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	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2017	4	1	100%	top 45%	94%	92.6%
2016	8	0	100%	top 44%	94.2%	92.5%
2015	7	0	43%	top 61%	92.5%	90.7%
2014	5	0	40%	top 70%	92.4%	88.4%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2017-09-08	Hog Wild West BBQ Contest Leavenworth, KS	9 / 25 (673.6000)	11 (167.3828)	11 (167.3828)	9 (167.9772)	6 (170.8572)
2017-06-09	*Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge Kansas City, KS	12 / 42 (676.4688)	7 (174.2744)	10 (171.4172)	23 (164.5372)	16 (166.2400)
2017-04-28	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Overland Park, KS	24 / 30 (650.1828)	12 (169.1200)	9 (169.1316)	30 (149.1084)	24 (162.8228)
2017-04-07	The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake Smithville, MO	20 / 54 (667.8972)	24 (165.7144)	8 (173.1200)	40 (159.9428)	12 (169.1200)
2016-09-09	*Independence Fire & Ice BBQ Independence, MO	26 / 76 (671.9200)	46 (163.9772)	5 (174.8572)	42 (166.8228)	30 (166.2628)
2016-08-19	BBQ and Fly In on the River Excelsior Springs, MO	19 / 56 (678.2400)	37 (163.9656)	14 (172.5716)	19 (170.2856)	7 (171.4172)
2016-08-12	Holy Smoke BBQ Competition Liberty, MO	11 / 16 (655.2572)	11 (166.8456)	11 (161.6572)	13 (161.6688)	10 (165.0856)
2016-07-29	Racing for the BBQ Lee's Summit, MO	21 / 54 (676.5260)	50 (154.2516)	4 (177.1544)	11 (173.1428)	12 (171.9772)
2016-06-10	Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge Kansas City, KS	18 / 34 (656.4572)	22 (160.5372)	4 (174.2628)	32 (154.2516)	7 (167.4056)
2016-05-13	21st Annual Platte City BBQ Cook-off At Basswood Resort Platte City, MO	21 / 51 (657.6228)	32 (163.3944)	3 (174.2972)	43 (154.7884)	18 (165.1428)
2016-04-29	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Overland Park, KS	16 / 30 (657.6000)	19 (163.4172)	24 (159.9428)	3 (172.0000)	16 (162.2400)
2016-04-08	The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake Smithville, MO	17 / 53 (673.6572)	12 (170.2744)	17 (166.8572)	28 (164.5600)	6 (171.9656)
2015-10-03	36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open Kansas City, MO	216 / 606 (662.2172)	228 (166.2972)	79 (171.9772)	370 (161.7028)	300 (162.2400)
2015-09-18	Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out Kearney, MO	24 / 41 (647.8972)	32 (156.5716)	18 (165.6800)	31 (159.3828)	16 (166.2628)
2015-09-11	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour N. Kansas City, MO	18 / 28 (665.0516)	20 (163.4288)	5 (172.5484)	18 (166.8344)	24 (162.2400)
2015-08-21	Holy Smoke BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	24 / 28 (649.5312)	24 (162.2400)	26 (156.5256)	22 (163.3828)	12 (167.3828)
2015-08-14	BBQ and Fly In on the River Excelsior Springs, MO	29 / 67 (665.6456)	54 (158.8228)	23 (168.0228)	32 (165.6800)	8 (173.1200)
2015-07-03	Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	13 / 27 (656.9824)	13 (165.6684)	20 (159.9540)	22 (158.8000)	3 (172.5600)
2015-04-10	The Best Damn BBQ Contest Smithville, MO	46 / 52 (624.9824)	51 (149.0740)	37 (162.2400)	37 (160.5828)	45 (153.0856)
2014-09-19	Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out Kearney, MO	37 / 49 (638.7088)	27 (166.2744)	46 (151.9428)	16 (169.6916)	41 (150.8000)
2014-09-12	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour N. Kansas City, MO	15 / 30 (665.6228)	24 (163.3828)	16 (166.8228)	17 (163.9772)	4 (171.4400)
2014-08-22	Holy Smoke BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	11 / 29 (656.4228)	14 (166.2744)	9 (166.2628)	15 (157.0628)	5 (166.8228)
2014-08-08	Balloons & BBQ Festival at Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS	50 / 53 (615.7716)	52 (146.2284)	44 (155.9432)	36 (162.8228)	46 (150.7772)
2014-07-03	Liberty 4th Fest BBQ Contest Liberty, MO	28 / 31 (604.3196)	20 (165.1432)	28 (150.7656)	25 (155.3712)	29 (133.0396)

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
2017 ↗	Master	#882 (405 pts)	#836 (470 pts)	#726 (550 pts)	#1093 (320 pts)	#846 (455 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#613 (635 pts)	#700 (575 pts)	#396 (990 pts)	#556 (730 pts)	#445 (905 pts)
2015 ↗	Master	#706 (503 pts)	#757 (488 pts)	#659 (593 pts)	#798 (463 pts)	#482 (783 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#786 (434 pts)	#903 (399 pts)	#825 (444 pts)	#823 (449 pts)	#631 (589 pts)