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.
SHELLBACK BBQ
SHELLBACK BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 8 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2021. Their best overall finish is 5th of 35 at the Wild West BBQ Cook-Off (2021). They are ranked #2982 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1506
peak 1506 · rated over 8 contests
Contests
8
in the data
First seen
May 9, 2014
latest Oct 2, 2021 · 7.4 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
2
5 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
13% of 8 contests
Avg finish
top 59%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
676.26 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 639.20 (+37.06)
Walk rate
63%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±48.15
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 163.48 · weakest Brisket (153.61)
Road miles
2,551
across 8 mapped stops · furthest 1,615 mi
Schedule strength
53%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1568)
Purse competed for
$46K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Master avg
639.20 / 720
8 Master contests · 0 GCs
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to SHELLBACK BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
116 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,972 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1508
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to SHELLBACK BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team SHELLBACK BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,975 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1509
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#2,986 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1518
Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,999 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1513
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.
⚔ Compare careers#2,976 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1526
Level with SHELLBACK BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,996 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1511
Careers of much the same size, 9 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careersBy 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 field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 6 | 0 | top 51% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 85% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2021
5 contests
Contests a season
4
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
VA
3 of 8 contests · 5 states in all
Contests visited
8
a different one every time
Opponents faced
200
finished ahead 103 times, behind 172
Longest layoff
6.7 yrs
Aug 22, 2014 → May 7, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20218 milestones
- First call Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
- First overall top-10 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score673.0396 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
- Career-best overall score680.5028 Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest
- Career-best single call (Chicken)179.4400 Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1
- Peak power rating (1506) Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2
- Most recent contest Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2
20141 milestone
- First tracked contest BBQ Jamboree
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.7 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off | May 7, 2021 |
| +7.2 | Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2 | Oct 2, 2021 |
| +7 | Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest | Aug 27, 2021 |
| +5.7 | Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1 | Oct 1, 2021 |
| +0.3 | Miles City Cowtown Cook Off | Jun 25, 2021 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.2 | BBQ Jamboree | May 9, 2014 |
| -10.7 | Chesapeake Jubilee | May 16, 2014 |
| -6.8 | VA BBQ Championships | Aug 22, 2014 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2021 | Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 2 Casper, WY | 11 / 26 (678.2628) | 18 (166.2628) | 2 (176.5716) | 3 (174.8456) | 20 (160.5828) |
| Oct 1, 2021 | Smoke & Soul Fest - Day 1 🏅 Casper, WY | 13 / 27 (675.3368) | 1 (179.4400) | 13 (169.1084) | 11 (167.4056) | 23 (159.3828) |
| Aug 27, 2021 | Hill City Wine Brew and BBQ Fest 🏅 Hill City, SD | 15 / 31 (680.5028) | 6 (176) | 13 (171.9656) | 6 (174.2628) | 26 (158.2744) |
| Jun 25, 2021 | Miles City Cowtown Cook Off 🏅 Miles City, MT | 16 / 25 (674.1712) | 15 (170.2628) | 17 (162.8228) | 7 (172.5600) | 12 (168.5256) |
| May 7, 2021 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Lamar, CO | 5 / 35 (673.0396) | 3 (173.7028) | 1 (174.8456) | 26 (157.1084) | 7 (167.3828) |
| Aug 22, 2014 | VA BBQ Championships Hampton, VA | 34 / 43 (587.8860) | 29 (151.3944) | 24 (152.5256) | 40 (137.1544) | 29 (146.8116) |
| May 16, 2014 | Chesapeake Jubilee Chesapeake, VA | 28 / 32 (568.4120) | 27 (141.1088) | 28 (143.3944) | 21 (152.5372) | 29 (131.3716) |
| May 9, 2014 | BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA | 58 / 64 (575.9888) | 56 (144.5484) | 35 (156.6172) | 61 (138.2628) | 60 (136.5604) |