The heartbreaker
2.2056
points from the title
Came within 2.2056 points of the Grand Championship at BBQ Festival (Aug 19, 2022).
Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team
Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team is a competition barbecue team with 22 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2017 and 2026. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the BBQ Festival 2018 (2018), and finished Reserve Grand Champion twice. They are ranked #1246 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1583
peak 1592 · rated over 20 contests1 invitational or side-series contest not counted
Contests
22
in the data
First seen
Aug 18, 2017
latest Aug 14, 2026 · 9 years on the trail
Grand champs
1
2 reserve · wins it all 5% of the time
Category wins
8
29 podiums
Overall top-10s
17
77% of 22 contests
Best top-10 run
12
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 41%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
671.23 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 662.51 (+8.72)
Walk rate
86%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±22.40
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 167.99 · weakest Brisket (163.33)
Road miles
23,681
across 22 mapped stops · furthest 5,045 mi
Schedule strength
20%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1529)
Purse competed for
$118K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
662.51 / 720
21 Master contests · 1 GC
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #438 (405 pts) | #483 (405 pts) | #462 (465 pts) | #514 (345 pts) | #543 (305 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #516 (352 pts) | #494 (447 pts) | #658 (282 pts) | #559 (322 pts) | #515 (372 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #368 (595 pts) | #360 (645 pts) | #350 (709 pts) | #410 (525 pts) | #393 (560 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #703 (215 pts) | #757 (215 pts) | #1025 (145 pts) | #643 (265 pts) | #1109 (110 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #381 (599 pts) | #377 (629 pts) | #552 (429 pts) | #407 (574 pts) | #399 (584 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #451 (403 pts) | #479 (403 pts) | #603 (298 pts) | #379 (528 pts) | #488 (393 pts) |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #892 (313 pts) | #824 (393 pts) | #867 (363 pts) | #1035 (268 pts) | #1095 (248 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team, each with one reason worth a look.
44 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#1,250 of the rated field
- Contests
- 22
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 27%
- Peak
- 1597
Careers of much the same size, 22 contests to 22, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#1,245 of the rated field
- Contests
- 21
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 43%
- Peak
- 1583
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 21 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#1,247 of the rated field
- Contests
- 19
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 42%
- Peak
- 1591
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#1,248 of the rated field
- Contests
- 26
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 35%
- Peak
- 1646
Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 26 contests, alongside a 35% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#1,241 of the rated field
- Contests
- 27
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 63%
- Peak
- 1584
Level with Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#1,242 of the rated field
- Contests
- 35
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1607
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insomnia BBQ Team | 14 | 6 | 8 | 43% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKING FINNS FI | 11 | 5 | 6 | 45% | ⚔ compare |
| BBQ Symphony | 11 | 2 | 9 | 18% | ⚔ compare |
| Piiripealsed | 8 | 7 | 1 | 88% | ⚔ compare |
| Sweaty Hogs | 8 | 1 | 7 | 13% | ⚔ compare |
| Sleeping Beauties of BBQ | 7 | 7 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| BBQ Rüütlid | 7 | 7 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| 3BBQ | 6 | 5 | 1 | 83% | ⚔ compare |
| Dreamfire BBQ Team | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Clean Smoke BBQ | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 21 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 176.5944 | 143.4056 | 167.99 | top 38% |
| Pork Ribs | 22 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 177.7028 | 139.3944 | 163.78 | top 54% |
| Pork | 21 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 178.2972 | 151.4400 | 167.58 | top 41% |
| Brisket | 21 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 178.2972 | 148.4916 | 163.33 | top 47% |
“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) | 16 | 1 | top 33% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 41% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 81% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Smoke | 5 | 2 | 0 | top 20% | May 15, 2026 |
| BBQ Festival 2020 | 2 | 1 | 1 | top 36% | Aug 21, 2020 |
| BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia | 2 | 3 | 0 | top 41% | Aug 15, 2025 |
| BBQ Festival | 2 | 2 | 0 | top 29% | Aug 19, 2022 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
4 contests
Contests a season
2.2
across 10 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
LT
5 of 22 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
14
4 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
22 entries · 1 win · 16 calls
First title
Aug 17, 2018
BBQ Festival 2018
Opponents faced
666
finished ahead 333 times, behind 589
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20261 milestone
- Most recent contest Cars & BBQ Festival 2026
20251 milestone
- Peak power rating (1592) Twin Smoke
20242 milestones
- Career-best overall score700.5488 BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia
- Career-best single call (Brisket)178.2972 BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia
20221 milestone
- 10th tracked contest Twin Smoke
20211 milestone
- First Reserve Championship Twin Smoke
20185 milestones
- First category win (Pork Ribs) BBQ Festival 2018
- First overall podium BBQ Festival 2018
- First Grand Championship BBQ Festival 2018
- First multi-meat day BBQ Festival 2018
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score662.3544 BBQ Festival 2018
20173 milestones
- First tracked contest BBQ Festival 2017
- First call BBQ Festival 2017
- First overall top-10 BBQ Festival 2017
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.9 | BBQ Festival 2018 | Aug 17, 2018 |
| +13.8 | Twin Smoke | Sep 11, 2021 |
| +11.8 | BBQ Festival | Aug 19, 2022 |
| +10.4 | Twin Smoke | Jul 2, 2022 |
| +10.2 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia | Aug 16, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -15.2 | Sip & Swine BBQ Festival | Mar 6, 2026 |
| -5.2 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia | Aug 15, 2025 |
| -4.8 | BBQ Battle Finland | Jun 15, 2019 |
| -4.8 | BIGFEAST CHALLENGE | Aug 13, 2022 |
| -3.4 | BBQ Festival 2020 | Aug 21, 2020 |
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 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 67% | top 51% | 95.5% | 93.2% |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 100% | top 45% | 94.4% | 93.3% |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 100% | top 26% | 97.3% | 95% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 20% | 92.5% | 92.5% |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 100% | top 36% | 95.1% | 91% |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100% | top 26% | 95.3% | 92.9% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 62% | 90.3% | 90.3% |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50% | top 59% | 94% | 90% |
| 2018 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 100% | top 10% | 92% | 92% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 53% | 87.7% | 87.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2026 | Cars & BBQ Festival 2026 Tallinn | 7 / 17 (687.3604) | 7 (171.9772) | 6 (174.2744) | 11 (168.5372) | 7 (172.5716) |
| May 15, 2026 | Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania | 4 / 23 (682.2516) | 4 (176.5944) | 2 (177.7028) | 5 (168.5600) | 15 (159.3944) |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Sip & Swine BBQ Festival 🏅 Lawrenceville, GA | 42 / 44 (642.6288) | 40 (162.8000) | 44 (150.7772) | 35 (163.9428) | 36 (165.1088) |
| Aug 15, 2025 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia Saue | 7 / 11 (663.9428) | 3 (173.1200) | 8 (163.3944) | 10 (162.2856) | 5 (165.1428) |
| May 17, 2025 | Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania | 3 / 11 (679.9428) | 2 (172) | 6 (166.8572) | 3 (169.6800) | 3 (171.4056) |
| Aug 16, 2024 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa, Estonia Saue Parish | 3 / 16 (700.5488) | 2 (176.5600) | 8 (171.9888) | 6 (173.7028) | 1 (178.2972) |
| Aug 10, 2024 | Wild West Fest on Fire Medvode | 4 / 11 (690.2288) | 5 (173.1200) | 3 (176.5716) | 6 (170.2628) | 4 (170.2744) |
| Aug 10, 2024 | Wild West Fest on Fire (ONE MEAT RIBS) Medvode | — | — | 7 (167.4288) | — | — |
| May 18, 2024 | Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania | 4 / 18 (661.0860) | 2 (176) | 3 (168.5944) | 3 (168) | 12 (148.4916) |
| Aug 18, 2023 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa Saue Parish | 3 / 15 (665.6916) | 3 (172.5828) | 7 (162.8344) | 1 (175.4172) | 11 (154.8572) |
| Aug 19, 2022 | BBQ Festival Saue Parish | 2 / 10 (684.6172) | 1 (172) | 3 (172.0344) | 6 (173.7256) | 4 (166.8572) |
| Aug 13, 2022 | BIGFEAST CHALLENGE Uusikaupunki | 6 / 9 (657.0744) | 8 (161.1088) | 9 (159.4288) | 3 (171.9884) | 3 (164.5484) |
| Jul 2, 2022 | Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania | 3 / 15 (624.0916) | 2 (158.2972) | 13 (139.3944) | 3 (165.7600) | 4 (160.6400) |
| Sep 11, 2021 | Twin Smoke Vilnius, Lithuania | 2 / 15 (686.2744) | 3 (168.5828) | 7 (165.1200) | 1 (178.2972) | 2 (174.2744) |
| Aug 20, 2021 | BBQ Festival 2021 Saue Parish | 5 / 13 (651.3712) | 4 (162.8456) | 6 (163.3944) | 1 (173.1428) | 6 (151.9884) |
| Aug 21, 2020 | BBQ Festival 2020 Saue Parish | 8 / 13 (650.2172) | 8 (165.1544) | 13 (148.5144) | 2 (169.1312) | 6 (167.4172) |
| Sep 12, 2019 | 40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue- OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 233 / 468 (660.4916) | 24 (176.5600) | 365 (157.1312) | 257 (164.5488) | 259 (162.2516) |
| Sep 12, 2019 | 40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue- INVITATIONAL CONTEST 🏅 unrated Kansas City, KS | 133 / 135 (634.6856) | 112 (165.7028) | 130 (157.0972) | 129 (159.9656) | 133 (151.9200) |
| Aug 16, 2019 | BBQ Festival 2019 Vanamõisa, Saue Parish | 4 / 18 (676.6284) | 1 (175.4400) | 2 (170.8800) | 7 (164.0228) | 9 (166.2856) |
| Jun 15, 2019 | BBQ Battle Finland Tampere | 15 / 23 (619.8516) | 14 (158.1940) | 21 (150.2516) | 10 (161.1428) | 17 (150.2632) |
| Aug 17, 2018 | BBQ Festival 2018 Vanamõisa, Saue Parish | 1 / 10 (662.3544) | 3 (165.7144) | 1 (174.9028) | 6 (151.4400) | 1 (170.2972) |
| Aug 18, 2017 | BBQ Festival 2017 Vanamõisa, Saue Parish | 8 / 15 (631.3712) | 15 (143.4056) | 6 (164.5372) | 4 (165.7028) | 8 (157.7256) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.