The comeback
7.2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 7.2 years, then back at Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Sep 5, 2025).
- last seen Jun 29, 2018
- back Sep 5, 2025
Smoke Signals
Smoke Signals is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2018 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 11th of 19 at the Traeger NorUt State Championship (2018). They finished #368 in the 2025 Backyard Series Team of the Year standings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1496
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 2
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Jun 29, 2018
latest Sep 5, 2025 · 7.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 62%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 166.26 · weakest Chicken (156.75)
Road miles
7,351
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 5,479 mi
Purse competed for
$540
listed at 1 contest — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
661.05 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
313.67 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360), so they're kept separate — averaging them together would be misleading.
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #368 (60 pts) | #371 (60 pts) | #335 (105 pts) | — | — |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Smoke Signals, each with one reason worth a look.
Smoke Signals has 2 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 119 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,342 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1500
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,370 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1507
They turned up 6 years after Smoke Signals did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Compare careers#3,364 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1496
Level with Smoke Signals on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,360 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Smoke Signals's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,365 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
Their last contest in the data was back in 2020, 5 years before Smoke Signals's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,338 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 9 years before Smoke Signals's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.1544 | 148.5944 | 156.75 | top 67% |
| Pork Ribs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.5372 | 161.1544 | 162.85 | top 55% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2628 | 166.2628 | 166.26 | top 58% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.0972 | 161.0972 | 161.10 | top 74% |
“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 field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 58% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 66% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
PZ
2 of 5 contests · 4 states in all
Contests visited
2
a different one every time
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 1 call
Opponents faced
55
finished ahead 21 times, behind 34
Longest layoff
7.2 yrs
Jun 29, 2018 → Sep 5, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20261 milestone
- Most recent contest Grill Contest Rivergaro (ONE MEAT CHICKEN)
20184 milestones
- First call Traeger NorUt State Championship
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score661.0516 Traeger NorUt State Championship
- Career-best overall score661.0516 Traeger NorUt State Championship
- Career-best single call (Chicken)169.1544 Traeger NorUt State Championship
20171 milestone
- First tracked contest Roman Roast on the River
Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 66% | 87.1% | 87.1% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 58% | 91.8% | 91.8% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2026 | Grill Contest Rivergaro (ONE MEAT CHICKEN) Rivergaro, PZ | — | 13 (148.5944) | — | — | — |
| May 3, 2026 | Grill Contest Rivergaro (ONE MEAT RIBS) Rivergaro, PZ | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 5, 2025 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 25 / 38 (313.6688) | 30 (152.5144) | 16 (161.1544) | — | — |
| Jun 29, 2018 | Traeger NorUt State Championship 🏅 Ogden, UT | 11 / 19 (661.0516) | 7 (169.1544) | 13 (164.5372) | 11 (166.2628) | 14 (161.0972) |
| May 12, 2017 | Roman Roast on the River Rome, GA | — | — | — | — | — |