Perfect scores on the board
1
perfect 180
1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in pork ribs.
- Pork Ribs ×1
309 BBQ
309 BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 32 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2026. They have won 2 Grand Championships, most recently at the Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) (2023), and finished Reserve Grand Champion twice. They are ranked #1465 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1567
peak 1613 · rated over 21 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
32
in the data
First seen
Jul 19, 2019
latest Aug 28, 2026 · 7.1 years on the trail
Grand champs
2
2 reserve · wins it all 6% of the time
Category wins
2
13 podiums
Overall top-10s
17
53% of 32 contests
Best top-10 run
10
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 38%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
330.91 ▼
last 5 Backyard vs avg 333.58 (-2.67)
Walk rate
72%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±10.52
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 169.89 · weakest Chicken (166.71)
Road miles
2,153
across 30 mapped stops · furthest 350 mi
Schedule strength
37%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1549)
Purse competed for
$81K
listed at 26 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
333.58 / 360
22 Backyard contests · 2 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
503.37 / 540
2 Backyard (3-meat) contests · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), so they're kept separate — averaging them together would be misleading.
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
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 309 BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
41 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#1,470 of the rated field
- Contests
- 39
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 10%
- Peak
- 1575
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to 309 BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team 309 BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#1,473 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 63%
- Peak
- 1567
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to 309 BBQ)
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#1,472 of the rated field
- Contests
- 20
- GCs
- 2
- Top-10s
- 35%
- Peak
- 1574
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before 309 BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#1,474 of the rated field
- Contests
- 24
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1582
Careers of much the same size, 24 contests to 32, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#1,461 of the rated field
- Contests
- 18
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 61%
- Peak
- 1570
Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 18 contests, alongside a 61% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#1,468 of the rated field
- Contests
- 27
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 15%
- Peak
- 1567
They were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before 309 BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudes BBQ | 17 | 5 | 12 | 29% | ⚔ compare |
| Shmack Q | 14 | 7 | 7 | 50% | ⚔ compare |
| Sermerstout BBQ | 14 | 6 | 8 | 43% | ⚔ compare |
| Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | 13 | 4 | 9 | 31% | ⚔ compare |
| Stone Cold Grillers | 11 | 9 | 2 | 82% | ⚔ compare |
| Ishy Links BBQ | 11 | 7 | 4 | 64% | ⚔ compare |
| T.J.D. Smokehouse | 10 | 7 | 3 | 70% | ⚔ compare |
| RUBY CREEK BBQ | 10 | 6 | 4 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| All Smoked Up BBQ | 10 | 4 | 6 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Sugba Smokehouse | 10 | 2 | 8 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10% | ⚔ compare |
| Up From The Pits BBQ | 9 | 5 | 4 | 56% | ⚔ compare |
| BBQ MIKE | 8 | 4 | 4 | 50% | ⚔ compare |
| Skinny Pig BBQ | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25% | ⚔ compare |
| Big Foot BBQ | 7 | 6 | 1 | 86% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 24 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 175.4172 | 154.7540 | 166.71 | top 41% |
| Pork Ribs | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 180 🔥 | 148.5144 | 167.55 | top 41% |
| Pork | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 176.5600 | 162.2400 | 169.89 | top 39% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 5 | 0 | top 51% |
| Medium (20–39) | 15 | 2 | top 30% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 51% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | 6 | 2 | 0 | top 36% | Aug 22, 2026 |
| Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | 4 | 1 | 1 | top 46% | Aug 28, 2026 |
| Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 3 | 1 | 1 | top 17% | Jun 14, 2024 |
| Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown | 3 | 4 | 0 | top 34% | Jun 27, 2025 |
| Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 8 | 0 | top 54% | Jun 19, 2026 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
8 contests
Contests a season
3.6
across 9 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
28 of 32 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
11
5 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
30 entries · 2 wins · 20 calls
First title
Jun 17, 2023
Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
Opponents faced
335
finished ahead 450 times, behind 247
Longest layoff
2 yrs
Jul 19, 2019 → Jul 16, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20262 milestones
- First perfect 180 (Pork Ribs) Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
20252 milestones
- 25th tracked contest Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1613) Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
20234 milestones
- First Grand Championship Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 10th tracked contest Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Biggest field won (33 teams) Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
20221 milestone
- Career-best overall score512.5256 Bar-B-QC (Backyard)
—6 milestones
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall podium Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First Reserve Championship Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score494.2056 Decatur's Smokin BBQ Festival Backyard Competition Presented by Kenney's Ace Hardware (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.5 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown Day 1 | Jul 16, 2021 |
| +14.2 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 17, 2023 |
| +12.8 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 25, 2023 |
| +11.7 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown | Jul 15, 2022 |
| +11.3 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 20, 2022 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -14.9 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 16, 2025 |
| -12.5 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 19, 2026 |
| -8.2 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 28, 2026 |
| -6.4 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown | Jun 27, 2025 |
| -6 | Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jul 12, 2024 |
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 100% | top 22% | 91.5% | 90.8% |
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 67% | top 70% | 95.7% | 92.4% |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20% | top 61% | 96.8% | 91% |
| 2024 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 63% | top 44% | 95.7% | 94.1% |
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 100% | top 15% | 96.3% | 94.3% |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 100% | top 27% | 94.9% | 93.4% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 8% | 93.5% | 93.5% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 18% | 87.4% | 87.4% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2026 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 12 / 16 (334.2172) | 12 (166.2400) | 9 (167.9772) | — | — |
| Aug 22, 2026 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 8 / 16 (344.5256) | 14 (164.5256) | 1 (180) | — | — |
| Jun 19, 2026 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 35 / 41 (319.3256) | 35 (161.0972) | 34 (158.2284) | — | — |
| Aug 22, 2025 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 20 / 31 (332.5144) | 14 (169.6800) | 22 (162.8344) | — | — |
| Aug 16, 2025 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 18 / 20 (307.3372) | 17 (158.8228) | 18 (148.5144) | — | — |
| Jun 27, 2025 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Eureka, IL | 17 / 26 (322.2056) | 20 (154.8228) | 12 (167.3828) | — | — |
| Jun 27, 2025 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown (ONE MEAT RIBS) Eureka, IL | — | — | 12 (168.5256) | — | — |
| Jun 20, 2025 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 8 / 36 (348.5600) | 6 (175.4172) | 11 (173.1428) | — | — |
| Sep 1, 2024 | Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 9 (170.8228) | — | — |
| Sep 1, 2024 | Rib Double Dip (2) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 16 (164.5372) | — | — |
| Aug 23, 2024 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 11 / 28 (331.9312) | 10 (166.2512) | 17 (165.6800) | — | — |
| Aug 17, 2024 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 5 / 26 (344.5256) | 9 (171.4056) | 5 (173.1200) | — | — |
| Jul 12, 2024 | Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) Miles, IA | 7 / 11 (342.8116) | 7 (168.5256) | 2 (174.2860) | 2 (176.5600) | — |
| Jun 14, 2024 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 10 / 40 (336.5488) | 9 (169.7144) | 16 (166.8344) | — | — |
| May 25, 2024 | 6th Annual KCBS World Invitational - BACKYARD SERIES INVITATIONAL unrated Lebanon, TN | 35 / 47 (338.2056) | 18 (174.2628) | 46 (163.9428) | — | — |
| May 24, 2024 | 6th Annual KCBS World Invitational - OPEN unrated Lebanon, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 3, 2023 | Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 2 (171.9772) | — | — |
| Sep 3, 2023 | Rib Double Dip (2) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 10 (167.4056) | — | — |
| Aug 25, 2023 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 1 / 26 (346.8344) | 4 (172.5600) | 1 (174.2744) | — | — |
| Aug 19, 2023 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 10 / 32 (330.2632) | 16 (162.8688) | 6 (167.3944) | — | — |
| Jul 14, 2023 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Eureka, IL | 5 / 25 (334.8460) | 8 (166.2860) | 3 (168.5600) | — | — |
| Jul 14, 2023 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown (One Meat Ribs) Eureka, IL | — | — | 6 (171.9656) | — | — |
| Jun 17, 2023 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 1 / 33 (346.2400) | 4 (171.9656) | 3 (174.2744) | — | — |
| Sep 9, 2022 | Bar-B-QC (Backyard) Davenport, IA | 7 / 13 (512.5256) | 6 (170.8228) | 5 (170.8228) | 7 (170.8800) | — |
| Aug 20, 2022 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 3 / 20 (334.8228) | 3 (166.8228) | 3 (168) | — | — |
| Jul 15, 2022 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Eureka, IL | 4 / 25 (330.8000) | 3 (166.2628) | 6 (164.5372) | — | — |
| Jun 17, 2022 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (Backyard) Morris, IL | 5 / 23 (337.0972) | 15 (162.8344) | 3 (174.2628) | — | — |
| Jul 16, 2021 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown Day 1 🏅 Eureka, IL | 2 / 25 (336.5260) | 2 (171.9772) | 4 (164.5488) | — | — |
| Jul 19, 2019 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Peoria, IL | 7 / 40 (314.6968) | 8 (154.7540) | 7 (159.9428) | — | — |
| Jul 20, 2018 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown (JUDGES FULL) Peoria, IL | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | Decatur's Smokin BBQ Festival Backyard Competition Presented by Kenney's Ace Hardware (BACKYARD ONLY) Decatur, IL | 7 / 22 (494.2056) | 9 (166.2856) | 9 (165.6800) | 10 (162.2400) | — |
| — | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 2 / 17 (323.9544) | 2 (166.8344) | 7 (157.1200) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.