SHELLBACK BBQ

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

Power ranking

#2960

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1506

peak 1506 · rated over 8 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2014-05-09

latest 2021-10-02

Best ToY finish

#311

Master 2021

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

5 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 8 contests

Avg finish

top 59%

overall standings

Best overall

680.5028 / 720

Master · Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest

Perfect 180s

Current form

676.26 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 639.20 (+37.06)

Walk rate

63%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

179.4400

Chicken · Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1

Consistency

±48.15

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 163.48 · weakest Brisket (153.61)

Road miles

2,551

mi across 8 mapped stops · furthest 1615 mi

Schedule strength

54%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1569)

Purse competed for

$46K

listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 4 state-championship entries

Master avg

639.20 / 720

8 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

63% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 5 of 8 contests

A top-10 category call in 63% of their 8 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

680.5028 career-best overall

94.5% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 680.5028 at Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest — 94.5% of a perfect 720.

Master
2021-08-27

Their season

2021 their best year

2021 was the year it came together: 5 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 2 category wins, at an average finish in the top 43%.

5 contests
1 overall top-10s
2 category wins
average top 43%

A tough matchup

3–0 behind in the head-to-head

WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings

WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.

The weak link

−9.9 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 9.87 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 13% of the time against 25%.

Brisket avg 153.61
Pork Ribs avg 163.48
1 calls in 8 entries

A strong matchup

4–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Happy Burnt Endings in 4 of their 4 shared contests.

The comeback

6.7 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 6.7 years, then back at Wild West BBQ Cook-Off (2021-05-07).

last seen 2014-08-22
back 2021-05-07

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.

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

Grillin' & Chillin' Pitmasters

#2957 of the rated field

1506 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 50%
Peak: 1509

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2026-06-19

⚔ Head-to-head

SMOKEY JOB

#2959 of the rated field

1506 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 50%
Peak: 1518

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2019-03-23

⚔ Head-to-head

Westwoodfield BBQ

#2953 of the rated field

1507 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 11%
Peak: 1511

No shared contest yet.

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

rated over 9 contests
last seen 2019-02-16

⚔ Head-to-head

PIT PASS BBQ

#2958 of the rated field

1506 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1506

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 3 years before SHELLBACK BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 9 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

BACONATERS

#2971 of the rated field

1506 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1506

No shared contest yet.

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

rated over 9 contests
last seen 2018-05-04

⚔ Head-to-head

TENNESSEE DOUBLE D'S BBQ

#2974 of the rated field

1506 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 11%
Peak: 1512

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 5 years before SHELLBACK BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 9 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	8	3	1	2	179.4400	141.1088	162.84	top 50%
Pork Ribs	8	2	1	2	176.5716	143.3944	163.48	top 46%
Pork	8	3	0	1	174.8456	137.1544	159.27	top 53%
Brisket	8	1	0	0	168.5256	131.3716	153.61	top 71%

“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	Avg finish
VA	3	top 86%
WY	2	top 45%
SD	1	top 48%
MT	1	top 64%
CO	1	top 14%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	6	0	top 51%
Large (40+)	2	0	top 85%

The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 7.4 yrs 2014-05-09 → 2021-10-02

Busiest season 2021 5 contests

Contests a season 4 across 2 seasons in the data

Cooks most in VA 3 of 8 contests · 5 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 8 0 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 8 entries · 1 win · 3 calls

Strongest meat Pork Ribs averages 163.48 · weakest Brisket (153.61)

Walk rate 63% a top-10 call in 5 of 8 contests

Overall top-10 rate 13% 1 of 8 contests

Master average 639.20 out of 720 · 8 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 200 103–172 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 2,551 8 mapped stops · furthest 1,615 mi

Schedule strength 1569 average field rating faced — tougher than 54% of rated contests

Purse competed for $46,400 listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships 0 from 4 state-championship entries

Longest layoff 6.7 yrs 2014-08-22 → 2021-05-07

Power rating 1506 peak 1506 · #2960 of 6,413 rated

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

2014
May 9 First tracked contest BBQ Jamboree
2021
May 7 First call Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
May 7 First category win (Pork Ribs) Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
May 7 First overall top-10 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
May 7 First overall past 90% of a perfect score673.0396 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
Aug 27 Career-best overall score680.5028 Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest
Oct 1 Career-best single call (Chicken)179.4400 Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1
Oct 2 Peak power rating (1506) Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2
Oct 2 Most recent contest Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+15.7	Wild West BBQ Cook-Off	2021-05-07
+7.2	Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2	2021-10-02
+7	Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest	2021-08-27
+5.8	Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1	2021-10-01
+0.4	Miles City Cowtown Cook Off	2021-06-25

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-12.2	BBQ Jamboree	2014-05-09
-10.7	Chesapeake Jubilee	2014-05-16
-6.8	VA BBQ Championships	2014-08-22

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	GCs	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2021	5	0	1	2	100%	top 43%	94.5%	93.9%
2014	3	0	0	0	0%	top 86%	81.7%	80.2%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2021-10-02	Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2 Casper, WY	11 / 26 (678.2628)	18 (166.2628)	2 (176.5716)	3 (174.8456)	20 (160.5828)
2021-10-01	Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1 🏅 Casper, WY	13 / 27 (675.3368)	1 (179.4400)	13 (169.1084)	11 (167.4056)	23 (159.3828)
2021-08-27	Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest 🏅 Hill City, SD	15 / 31 (680.5028)	6 (176.0000)	13 (171.9656)	6 (174.2628)	26 (158.2744)
2021-06-25	Miles City Cowtown Cook Off 🏅 Miles City, MT	16 / 25 (674.1712)	15 (170.2628)	17 (162.8228)	7 (172.5600)	12 (168.5256)
2021-05-07	Wild West BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Lamar, CO	5 / 35 (673.0396)	3 (173.7028)	1 (174.8456)	26 (157.1084)	7 (167.3828)
2014-08-22	VA BBQ Championships Hampton, VA	34 / 43 (587.8860)	29 (151.3944)	24 (152.5256)	40 (137.1544)	29 (146.8116)
2014-05-16	Chesapeake Jubilee Chesapeake, VA	28 / 32 (568.4120)	27 (141.1088)	28 (143.3944)	21 (152.5372)	29 (131.3716)
2014-05-09	BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA	58 / 64 (575.9888)	56 (144.5484)	35 (156.6172)	61 (138.2628)	60 (136.5604)

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
2021 ↗	Master	#311 (619 pts)	#225 (869 pts)	#247 (854 pts)	#278 (734 pts)	#419 (474 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#1372 (200 pts)	#1453 (200 pts)	#1416 (205 pts)	#1372 (220 pts)	#1434 (200 pts)