GRATEFUL 'QUE

GRATEFUL 'QUE is a competition barbecue team with 25 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2019. Their best overall finish is 12th of 23 at the Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic (2017). They are ranked #6212 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#6,212

of 6,477 rated · rankings

Rating

1420

peak 1420 · rated over 24 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Sep 30, 2016

latest Jun 21, 2019 · 2.7 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#638

Master 2017 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

2 podiums

Overall top-10s

0% of 25 contests

Avg finish

top 79%

overall standings

Best overall

650.8112 / 720

Master · Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic

Perfect 180s

Current form

628.53 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 626.55 (+1.98)

Walk rate

16%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

174.2744

Chicken · Currituck Heritage Festival

Consistency

±14.65

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 159.66 · weakest Brisket (149.22)

Road miles

3,489

across 25 mapped stops · furthest 261 mi

Schedule strength

79%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1603)

Purse competed for

$22K

listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 5 state-championship entries

Master avg

626.55 / 720

24 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (9 found in their record)

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

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

WAR PIGS has finished one call ahead of GRATEFUL 'QUE 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

19–0 behind in the head-to-head

3N1 Q ahead in 100% of their meetings

3N1 Q has come out ahead in 19 of their 19 shared contests.

The weak link

−10.4 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 10.43 points below their pork, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 8%.

Brisket avg 149.22
Pork avg 159.66
0 calls in 24 entries

A strong matchup

5–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 83% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of GREAT WHITE BBQ in 5 of their 6 shared contests.

Pork nemesis

16 of 16 shared pork entries lost

CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ ahead 100% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ has out-cooked them in 16 of 16 shared pork entries.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Still Workin' On It has landed one call behind them 2 times.

An October team

Top 62% average finish in October

Something about October: average finish in the top 62% across 3 contests, versus top 79% the rest of the year.

3 October contests
top 79% the rest of the year

Show 2 more storylines

The long haul

3,489 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 3,489 miles across 25 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 261 miles to Chillin & Grillin in the Glades (JUDGES FULL).

25 mapped stops
furthest 261 mi

The metronome

±2.04% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±2.04% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 87.0% of a perfect score
25 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	#1067 (239 pts)	#958 (299 pts)	#1004 (289 pts)	#1097 (244 pts)	#1118 (239 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#748 (440 pts)	#712 (500 pts)	#735 (490 pts)	#609 (615 pts)	#813 (415 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#638 (606 pts)	#659 (611 pts)	#480 (816 pts)	#443 (871 pts)	#696 (571 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#2896 (56 pts)	#2092 (106 pts)	#2912 (56 pts)	#2234 (76 pts)	#2904 (56 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to GRATEFUL 'QUE, each with one reason worth a look.

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

BUTTS R US

#6,204 of the rated field

1420 power rating

Contests: 25
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 4%
Peak: 1420

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 25 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 25 contests
last seen Oct 11, 2019

⚔ Compare careers

Coaches Pit BBQ

#6,210 of the rated field

1420 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1420

Careers of much the same size, 19 contests to 25, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 19 contests
last seen Apr 24, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

The Drizzlers

#6,215 of the rated field

1419 power rating

Contests: 13
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1419

13 contests and no Grand Championship yet.

rated over 13 contests
last seen Jun 26, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Jonesy's Smoke Rangers

#6,205 of the rated field

1420 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1420

Level with GRATEFUL 'QUE on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 11 contests
last seen Jun 26, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Four Alarm Smokers

#6,209 of the rated field

1420 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1420

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2016.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Oct 3, 2025

⚔ Compare careers

White Wolf Smokers

#6,211 of the rated field

1420 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1420

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 10 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Sep 13, 2024

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
3N1 Q	19	0	19	0%	⚔ compare
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
OLD COLONY SMOKEHOUSE	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
CHECKERED FLAG 500 BBQ	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
JD'S SMOKIN MISFITS	13	1	12	8%	⚔ compare
PAVONE BROTHERS BBQ	13	0	13	0%	⚔ compare
GRATE SMOKE	12	2	10	17%	⚔ compare
FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
APORKALYPSE NOW	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
4:20 Q	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
BIG DOG BBQ VA	11	1	10	9%	⚔ compare
3 EYZ BBQ	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
270 SMOKERS	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
LIFE IS GOOD BUT BBQ IS BETTER	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	24	2	1	174.2744	148.5256	159.30	top 70%
Pork Ribs	24	2	0	168.5600	147.3372	158.37	top 67%
Pork	24	2	1	173.7256	144.4456	159.66	top 64%
Brisket	24	0	0	160.5372	132.5600	149.22	top 83%

“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
Medium (20–39)	13	0	top 82%
Large (40+)	11	0	top 76%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
VA	16	top 79%
PA	3	top 65%
NC	2	top 84%
WV	2	top 84%
MD	1	top 96%

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

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
The Ironman	3	24	top 65%	Apr 5, 2019
Currituck Heritage Festival	2	20	top 84%	Nov 2, 2018
Almost Heaven BBQ Bash	2	48	top 84%	Jun 15, 2018
BBQ Gives Back	2	52	top 77%	Mar 23, 2018

More numbers

Busiest season 2018 10 contests

Contests a season 6.3 across 4 seasons in the data

Most contests held in VA 16 of 25 contests · 5 states in all

Contests visited 19 4 of them more than once

Opponents faced 390 finished ahead 217 times, behind 765

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

20192 milestones

Jun 21 25th tracked contest 8th Annual Covington Cork & Pork Festival
Jun 21 Most recent contest 8th Annual Covington Cork & Pork Festival

20181 milestone

Nov 2 Career-best single call (Chicken)174.2744 Currituck Heritage Festival

20174 milestones

Oct 6 First call Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic
Oct 6 First overall past 90% of a perfect score650.8112 Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic
Oct 6 10th tracked contest Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic
Oct 6 Career-best overall score650.8112 Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic

20162 milestones

Sep 30 First tracked contest Que & Cruz
Sep 30 Peak power rating (1493) Que & Cruz

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+5.4	Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic	Oct 6, 2017
+3.2	The Ironman	Apr 5, 2019
+2.9	Que & Cruz	Oct 5, 2018
+1.1	The Ironman	Mar 31, 2017
+0.6	4th Annual Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition	Apr 28, 2017

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-9.5	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	Jun 2, 2017
-8.9	BBQ Jamboree- Day 2 (JUDGES FULL)	May 12, 2017
-7.3	Que & Cruz	Sep 30, 2016
-6.7	Currituck Heritage Festival	Sep 15, 2017
-6.6	Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition	Apr 26, 2019

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2019	4	0%	top 81%	90.4%	87.4%
2018	10	20%	top 81%	89.1%	86.8%
2017	10	20%	top 77%	90.4%	87%
2016	1	0%	top 81%	87.4%	87.4%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Jun 21, 2019	8th Annual Covington Cork & Pork Festival 🏅 Covington, VA	29 / 32 (614.1028)	25 (157.0856)	23 (157.6800)	26 (157.1428)	31 (142.1944)
Apr 26, 2019	Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition 🏅 Lanexa, VA	30 / 32 (616.9604)	30 (149.6228)	24 (158.8000)	23 (161.1888)	30 (147.3488)
Apr 5, 2019	The Ironman Greencastle, PA	24 / 42 (650.7316)	12 (166.8228)	20 (163.9544)	26 (161.7028)	24 (158.2516)
Mar 23, 2019	BBQ Gives Back-IV (DAY 2) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	43 / 52 (635.2576)	48 (157.1316)	22 (166.8344)	41 (157.6572)	42 (153.6344)
Nov 2, 2018	Currituck Heritage Festival Currituck, NC	20 / 25 (625.6116)	2 (174.2744)	24 (152.5028)	13 (166.2744)	24 (132.5600)
Oct 5, 2018	Que & Cruz Louisa, VA	16 / 25 (640.4344)	9 (165.6916)	14 (161.6800)	5 (167.9656)	23 (145.0972)
Sep 28, 2018	Smithfield BBQ Classic Richmond, VA	31 / 41 (641.0744)	33 (156.5716)	31 (158.2284)	17 (165.7372)	26 (160.5372)
Sep 7, 2018	14th Annual Recovery Fest/8th Annual BBQ State Championship 🏅 Richmond, VA	25 / 29 (603.2344)	26 (150.7772)	25 (154.8572)	24 (153.0972)	25 (144.5028)
Aug 25, 2018	HAVA Nagrilla 2018 (KOSHER SERIES) (JUDGES FULL) Wynnewood, PA	—	—	—	—	—
Jul 20, 2018	Chillin & Grillin in the Glades (JUDGES FULL) Wise, VA	27 / 29 (614.5712)	26 (158.2284)	27 (155.3600)	25 (160.5256)	28 (140.4572)
Jun 22, 2018	Covington Cork & Pork Festival Covington, VA	24 / 27 (632.9600)	20 (161.1428)	26 (148.4916)	14 (165.1084)	22 (158.2172)
Jun 15, 2018	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash Weston, WV	50 / 59 (615.2000)	40 (161.0856)	49 (151.9772)	52 (151.9428)	52 (150.1944)
Apr 6, 2018	The Ironman Greencastle, PA	50 / 60 (611.7484)	50 (153.0740)	22 (164.5372)	53 (147.3828)	52 (146.7544)
Mar 23, 2018	BBQ Gives Back Urbanna, VA	52 / 75 (641.5996)	63 (157.1084)	19 (168.5600)	33 (163.4056)	65 (152.5256)
Oct 13, 2017	Shenandoah Valley BBQ Fest Woodstock, VA	21 / 30 (645.0284)	23 (155.9428)	10 (166.8344)	15 (164.5484)	19 (157.7028)
Oct 6, 2017	Devon Grube Memorial BBQ Classic Virginia Beach, VA	12 / 23 (650.8112)	18 (158.8228)	7 (165.1656)	3 (173.7256)	19 (153.0972)
Sep 15, 2017	Currituck Heritage Festival Powells Point, NC	22 / 25 (619.8744)	23 (156.5372)	16 (161.7028)	20 (160.5484)	24 (141.0860)
Sep 8, 2017	13th Annual Recovery Fest/8th Annual BBQ State Championship 🏅 Richmond, VA	29 / 35 (625.0636)	30 (154.8688)	27 (155.9660)	23 (159.4172)	26 (154.8116)
Jun 16, 2017	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash Weston, WV	48 / 57 (617.4624)	42 (161.6912)	32 (163.4056)	53 (144.4456)	50 (147.9200)
Jun 2, 2017	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Laurel, MD	27 / 28 (594.5940)	27 (148.5256)	16 (159.9312)	24 (151.3600)	27 (134.7772)
May 12, 2017	BBQ Jamboree- Day 2 (JUDGES FULL) Fredericksburg, VA	41 / 43 (615.1884)	28 (165.6684)	41 (147.3372)	40 (150.7656)	40 (151.4172)
Apr 28, 2017	4th Annual Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition Lanexa, VA	27 / 46 (642.7888)	15 (168.5944)	17 (161.1200)	16 (165.7144)	38 (147.3600)
Mar 31, 2017	The Ironman Greencastle, PA	33 / 59 (632.3884)	47 (154.2628)	48 (151.9428)	14 (166.2400)	29 (159.9428)
Mar 24, 2017	BBQ Gives Back Urbanna, VA	54 / 64 (621.5428)	36 (165.7144)	62 (148.5372)	51 (156.5256)	46 (150.7656)
Sep 30, 2016	Que & Cruz Louisa, VA	25 / 31 (629.0400)	15 (164)	28 (155.3944)	21 (159.4056)	25 (150.2400)

GRATEFUL 'QUE

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

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 (9 found in their record)

The one to beat

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Pork nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

An October team

The long haul

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

By state / province (where the contests were held)

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, averaged over 5 contests — 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)