YELLOW JACKET BBQ

YELLOW JACKET BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 19 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2019. Their best overall finish is 5th of 37 at the Red White Blue and Que Presented by Lucas Oil Speedway (2018). They are ranked #1425 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#1,425

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1570

peak 1570 · rated over 19 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

May 9, 2014

latest Oct 4, 2019 · 5.4 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#439

Master 2018 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

4 podiums

Overall top-10s

21% of 19 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 48%

overall standings

Best overall

687.3368 / 720

Master · Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival

Perfect 180s

Current form

671.19 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 667.51 (+3.68)

Walk rate

68%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

179.4400

Pork Ribs · Freedom Fest BBQ Cook-Off

Consistency

±12.03

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 169.42 · weakest Brisket (165.40)

Road miles

830

across 19 mapped stops · furthest 61 mi

Schedule strength

79%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1602)

Purse competed for

$25K

listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 4 state-championship entries

Master avg

667.51 / 720

19 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (10 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

They almost always walk

68% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 13 of 19 contests

A top-10 category call in 68% of their 19 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

687.3368 career-best overall

95.5% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 687.3368 at Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival — 95.5% of a perfect 720.

Master
Apr 20, 2018

The one to beat

3× one call ahead of them

COUNTRYSIDE BBQ PRO SHOP has finished one call ahead of YELLOW JACKET BBQ 3 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

18–0 behind in the head-to-head

GETTIN' BASTED ahead in 100% of their meetings

GETTIN' BASTED has come out ahead in 18 of their 18 shared contests.

The weak link

−4.0 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.02 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 32% of the time against 47%.

Brisket avg 165.40
Chicken avg 169.42
6 calls in 19 entries

A strong matchup

13–3 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 81% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of TAILGATE GUYS BBQ in 13 of their 16 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

12 of 18 shared chicken entries lost

GETTIN' BASTED ahead 67% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, GETTIN' BASTED has out-cooked them in 12 of 18 shared chicken entries.

Show 3 more storylines

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

UP SAUCE CREEK has landed one call behind them 2 times.

An April team

Top 17% average finish in April

Something about April: average finish in the top 17% across 3 contests, versus top 48% the rest of the year.

3 April contests
top 48% the rest of the year

The metronome

±1.67% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±1.67% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 92.7% of a perfect score
19 contests

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
2019 ↗	Master	#695 (457 pts)	#564 (612 pts)	#732 (457 pts)	#766 (422 pts)	#701 (477 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#439 (810 pts)	#306 (1,060 pts)	#362 (960 pts)	#651 (570 pts)	#372 (930 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#963 (356 pts)	#1238 (256 pts)	#773 (521 pts)	#789 (511 pts)	#919 (401 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#1775 (120 pts)	#1883 (120 pts)	#1818 (130 pts)	#1840 (125 pts)	#1839 (120 pts)
2015 ↗	Master	#1636 (125 pts)	#1180 (260 pts)	#2209 (60 pts)	#1695 (135 pts)	#2214 (60 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#2026 (85 pts)	#1870 (130 pts)	#2161 (75 pts)	#2172 (75 pts)	#2148 (75 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to YELLOW JACKET BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.

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

SMOKEY BEAR'S BBQ NEBRASKA

#1,433 of the rated field

1569 power rating

Contests: 22
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 23%
Peak: 1569

0–2 in 2 shared contests (0% to YELLOW JACKET BBQ)

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

rated over 22 contests
last seen Oct 26, 2018

⚔ Head-to-head

SMOKEVILLE

#1,416 of the rated field

1570 power rating

Contests: 44
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 23%
Peak: 1584

4–0 in 4 shared contests (100% to YELLOW JACKET BBQ)

A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 44 contests to 19.

rated over 44 contests
last seen Aug 28, 2020

⚔ Head-to-head

UNFAMOUS DAVE'S

#1,424 of the rated field

1570 power rating

Contests: 132
GCs: 3
Top-10s: 21%
Peak: 1724

1–2 in 3 shared contests (33% to YELLOW JACKET BBQ)

They've been 1724 at their best, 155 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 124 contests
last seen Oct 2, 2026

⚔ Head-to-head

HUNTER'S HOT ASH BBQ

#1,427 of the rated field

1570 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 32%
Peak: 1570

19 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 32% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 19 contests
last seen Jun 12, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

SOUTHERN SMOKED SWINE

#1,414 of the rated field

1570 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 37%
Peak: 1584

Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 4 years before YELLOW JACKET BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 19 contests

⚔ Compare careers

THE DUTCH BBQ CREW

#1,423 of the rated field

1570 power rating

Contests: 18
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 44%
Peak: 1570

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2014.

rated over 18 contests
last seen Sep 7, 2019
on a 4-contest top-10 run

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
GETTIN' BASTED	18	0	18	0%	⚔ compare
TAILGATE GUYS BBQ	16	13	3	81%	⚔ compare
COUNTRYSIDE BBQ PRO SHOP	12	3	9	25%	⚔ compare
SMOOTH SMOKE	12	2	10	17%	⚔ compare
THE BOAR OF DIRECTORS	11	3	8	27%	⚔ compare
Z-QUE	10	4	6	40%	⚔ compare
ELI'S PIT CREW	9	5	4	56%	⚔ compare
BRICKHEAD BBQ	9	1	8	11%	⚔ compare
SHAKE 'N BAKE BBQ	9	0	9	0%	⚔ compare
CROSSFIRE BBQ	8	7	1	88%	⚔ compare
Hogzilla	8	7	1	88%	⚔ compare
Smokin in the Ozarks	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
A Good Rub BBQ	8	2	6	25%	⚔ compare
AMERICAN FIRE BBQ	8	2	6	25%	⚔ compare
DIRT ROAD BBQ	8	1	7	13%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	19	9	0	1	177.7028	154.7884	169.42	top 42%
Pork Ribs	19	5	1	3	179.4400	157.0744	166.34	top 45%
Pork	19	4	0	0	173.1428	158.2284	166.34	top 50%
Brisket	19	6	0	0	175.4056	152.4800	165.40	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	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	1	top 53%
Medium (20–39)	9	top 51%
Large (40+)	9	top 44%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Table Rock Boats and Bones	3	18	top 67%	Sep 22, 2018
Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown	2	14	top 62%	Oct 4, 2019
Freedom Fest BBQ Cook-Off	2	17	top 50%	Jun 29, 2018
Rock N Ribs BBQ Festival	2	12	top 30%	Apr 24, 2015

More numbers

Busiest season 2018 7 contests

Contests a season 3.2 across 6 seasons in the data

Most contests held in MO 19 of 19 contests

Contests visited 14 4 of them more than once

Opponents faced 329 finished ahead 408 times, behind 317

Longest layoff 1.2 yrs Apr 24, 2015 → Jun 24, 2016

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

20192 milestones

Oct 4 Peak power rating (1570) Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown
Oct 4 Most recent contest Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown

20183 milestones

Apr 20 First overall top-10 Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival
Apr 20 Career-best overall score687.3368 Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival
May 25 10th tracked contest Shepherd's Smokin Summer Kick Off

20172 milestones

Jun 23 First category win (Pork Ribs) Freedom Fest BBQ Cook-Off
Jun 23 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)179.4400 Freedom Fest BBQ Cook-Off

20152 milestones

Apr 24 First call Rock N Ribs BBQ Festival
Apr 24 First overall past 90% of a perfect score671.3144 Rock N Ribs BBQ Festival

20141 milestone

May 9 First tracked contest Rock'n Ribs BBQ Festival

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16.6	Red White Blue and Que Presented by Lucas Oil Speedway	Aug 4, 2018
+13.1	Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival	Apr 20, 2018
+11.3	Rock N Ribs BBQ Festival	Apr 24, 2015
+10.6	Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival	Apr 21, 2017
+9.5	Smoking on the Osage BBQ contest and Car show	Jul 20, 2019

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-7.3	Table Rock Boats and Bones	Sep 17, 2016
-6.6	Route 66 BBQ & Steak Showdown	Aug 9, 2019
-3.5	Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown	Oct 19, 2018
-3.5	Red White Blue and Que Presented by Lucas Oil Speedway	Jul 8, 2017
-1.2	Table Rock Boats and Bones	Sep 16, 2017

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	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2019	4	1	0	75%	top 49%	95.2%	93.4%
2018	7	3	0	86%	top 43%	95.5%	93.3%
2017	4	0	1	75%	top 52%	94%	92.8%
2016	2	0	0	0%	top 70%	90.6%	90.5%
2015	1	0	0	100%	top 19%	93.2%	93.2%
2014	1	0	0	0%	top 40%	89.3%	89.3%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Oct 4, 2019	Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown 🏅 Lebanon, MO	14 / 27 (674.7432)	5 (173.7144)	7 (171.9772)	16 (168.5372)	19 (160.5144)
Sep 21, 2019	Bikes Boats & Bones BBQ & Steak Showdown 🏅 Kimberling City, MO	12 / 28 (680.4340)	5 (174.8572)	12 (169.6800)	24 (163.9312)	14 (171.9656)
Aug 9, 2019	Route 66 BBQ & Steak Showdown 🏅 Springfiled, MO	18 / 25 (650.0800)	17 (163.3944)	19 (158.2172)	11 (167.3828)	18 (161.0856)
Jul 20, 2019	Smoking on the Osage BBQ contest and Car show 🏅 Osceola, MO	8 / 27 (685.6456)	6 (174.2628)	15 (163.9544)	8 (172.0228)	4 (175.4056)
Oct 19, 2018	Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown Lebanon, MO	15 / 21 (665.0404)	5 (173.1316)	12 (162.8000)	16 (158.2516)	8 (170.8572)
Sep 22, 2018	Table Rock Boats and Bones Kimberling, MO	18 / 35 (665.0516)	6 (173.1200)	25 (162.2400)	21 (161.1316)	15 (168.5600)
Aug 10, 2018	Route 66 Barbeque Throwdown (JUDGES FULL) Springfield, MO	10 / 19 (666.1372)	10 (170.2744)	7 (166.2516)	14 (166.8228)	13 (162.7884)
Aug 4, 2018	Red White Blue and Que Presented by Lucas Oil Speedway Wheatland, MO	5 / 37 (681.6228)	4 (174.2628)	3 (174.8572)	28 (162.8228)	8 (169.6800)
Jun 29, 2018	Freedom Fest BBQ Cook-Off Willard, MO	27 / 52 (665.0056)	43 (161.6800)	20 (169.1200)	29 (166.2284)	15 (167.9772)
May 25, 2018	Shepherd's Smokin Summer Kick Off Branson, MO	23 / 50 (672.4800)	14 (172.5600)	41 (157.0972)	19 (169.1200)	6 (173.7028)
Apr 20, 2018	Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival Springfield, MO	5 / 43 (687.3368)	4 (177.7028)	2 (176)	19 (163.9540)	10 (169.6800)
Sep 16, 2017	Table Rock Boats and Bones Kimberling, MO	31 / 47 (664.9484)	32 (167.3828)	31 (165.0972)	16 (171.9772)	35 (160.4912)
Jul 8, 2017	Red White Blue and Que Presented by Lucas Oil Speedway Wheatland, MO	23 / 31 (660.4112)	30 (154.7884)	18 (166.2400)	9 (171.4056)	17 (167.9772)
Jun 23, 2017	Freedom Fest BBQ Cook-Off Willard, MO	17 / 35 (669.5888)	22 (168.5372)	1 (179.4400)	13 (169.1316)	31 (152.4800)
Apr 21, 2017	Rock'n N Ribs BBQ Festival Springfield, MO	11 / 55 (676.5372)	24 (165.1200)	20 (165.1316)	9 (173.1428)	5 (173.1428)
Sep 17, 2016	Table Rock Boats and Bones Kimberling City, MO	36 / 43 (650.6628)	33 (163.3828)	23 (166.8344)	32 (163.9428)	35 (156.5028)
Jun 24, 2016	Freedom Feast BBQ Cook-Off Willard, MO	28 / 49 (652.4000)	33 (164.5372)	25 (163.9544)	24 (162.2400)	30 (161.6684)
Apr 24, 2015	Rock N Ribs BBQ Festival Springfield, MO	12 / 63 (671.3144)	2 (177.1544)	26 (164.5372)	10 (170.2628)	26 (159.3600)
May 9, 2014	Rock'n Ribs BBQ Festival Springfield, MO	23 / 57 (643.2228)	14 (169.1200)	31 (157.0744)	29 (158.2284)	25 (158.8000)

YELLOW JACKET BBQ

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (10 found in their record)

They almost always walk

High-water mark

The one to beat

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Chicken nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

An April team

The metronome

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

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

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

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

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

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

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

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)