High-water mark
682.7540
career-best overall
94.8% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 682.7540 at Esperanza Bonanza — 94.8% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2021-10-22
Lightning BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1489
peak 1489 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2021-06-18
latest 2022-06-10
Best ToY finish
#771
Master 2021
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 68%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
660.42
last 3 Master vs avg 660.42 (-0.00)
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±16.87
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 172.76 · weakest Chicken (158.21)
Road miles
56
mi across 3 mapped stops · furthest 35 mi
Schedule strength
71%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1589)
Purse competed for
$28K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
660.42 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (2 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.
A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Kermit's Ex ahead in 100% of their meetings
Kermit's Ex has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
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.
Lightning BBQ has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 147 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#3712 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1504
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3730 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
No shared contest yet.
Level with Lightning BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3698 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1500
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2014, 7 years before Lightning BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#3697 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1489
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3726 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1489
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 6 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3733 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1511
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 4 years before Lightning BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.1084 | 134.6512 | 158.21 | top 63% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177.1544 | 167.9888 | 172.76 | top 39% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.8228 | 166.8228 | 168.34 | top 57% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.3944 | 154.2628 | 161.11 | top 78% |
“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 | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| AR | 2 | 0 | top 63% |
| MS | 1 | 0 | top 79% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 63% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 79% |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1 yrs
2021-06-18 → 2022-06-10
Busiest season
2021
2 contests
Contests a season
1.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
AR
2 of 3 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 172.76 · weakest Chicken (158.21)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Master average
660.42
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
95
31–85 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
56
3 mapped stops · furthest 35 mi
Schedule strength
1589
average field rating faced — tougher than 71% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$28,000
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 3 state-championship entries
Power rating
1489
peak 1489 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2021
- First tracked contest DeSoto Shrine Club 13th Annual BBQ Cook-Off
- First call Esperanza Bonanza
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score682.7540 Esperanza Bonanza
- Career-best overall score682.7540 Esperanza Bonanza
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.1544 Esperanza Bonanza
- Peak power rating (1494) Esperanza Bonanza
- 2022
- Most recent contest Delta Smoke BBQ Contest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +0.7 | Esperanza Bonanza | 2021-10-22 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -6.8 | DeSoto Shrine Club 13th Annual BBQ Cook-Off | 2021-06-18 |
| -5.1 | Delta Smoke BBQ Contest | 2022-06-10 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 82% | 91.2% | 91.2% |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 62% | 94.8% | 92% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-06-10 | Delta Smoke BBQ Contest 🏅 Wynne, AR | 27 / 33 (656.4916) | 25 (166.8572) | 24 (167.9888) | 23 (167.3828) | 31 (154.2628) |
| 2021-10-22 | Esperanza Bonanza 🏅 Marion, AR | 12 / 27 (682.7540) | 5 (173.1084) | 4 (177.1544) | 14 (170.8228) | 22 (161.6684) |
| 2021-06-18 | DeSoto Shrine Club 13th Annual BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Nesbit, MS | 38 / 48 (642.0000) | 46 (134.6512) | 14 (173.1316) | 24 (166.8228) | 28 (167.3944) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #1612 (58 pts) | #1621 (58 pts) | #1396 (63 pts) | #1325 (68 pts) | #1624 (58 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #771 (177 pts) | #694 (237 pts) | #584 (317 pts) | #815 (172 pts) | #927 (127 pts) |