High-water mark
668.4916
career-best overall
92.8% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 668.4916 at South Carolina Festival of Discovery — 92.8% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Jul 7, 2022
Iron Head Barbeque
Iron Head Barbeque is a competition barbecue team with 16 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2023. Their best overall finish is 22nd of 30 at The Real Squeal BBQ & Music Festival (2022). They are ranked #6184 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1423
peak 1502 · rated over 12 contests
Contests
16
in the data
First seen
Jul 7, 2022
latest Jun 16, 2023
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 16 contests
Avg finish
top 84%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
638.59 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 635.34 (+3.25)
Walk rate
6%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±42.82
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 164.81 · weakest Brisket (156.96)
Road miles
2,309
across 16 mapped stops · furthest 450 mi
Schedule strength
74%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1594)
Purse competed for
$151K
listed at 12 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 12 state-championship entries
Master avg
635.34 / 720
12 Master contests · 0 GCs
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #583 (286 pts) | #642 (286 pts) | #503 (464 pts) | #558 (341 pts) | #609 (286 pts) |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Iron Head Barbeque, each with one reason worth a look.
34 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#6,185 of the rated field
- Contests
- 16
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1423
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Iron Head Barbeque)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Iron Head Barbeque has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#6,186 of the rated field
- Contests
- 155
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 5%
- Peak
- 1423
2–3 in 5 shared contests (40% to Iron Head Barbeque)
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 155 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#6,179 of the rated field
- Contests
- 12
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1501
Careers of much the same size, 12 contests to 16, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#6,187 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1423
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 7 years before Iron Head Barbeque's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#6,180 of the rated field
- Contests
- 15
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1504
15 contests and no Grand Championship yet.
⚔ Compare careers#6,181 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1423
They were already cooking in 2013, 9 years before Iron Head Barbeque's first contest.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| MAYA JANE BBQ CO. | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Smoke Central BBQ | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKE SHOW MAFIA | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| BAD ROOSTER BBQ | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Bald Hawg BBQ | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Peckerwood Country Club | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| ELITE BBQ SMOKERS | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| MUTTLEY CREW BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Under the Radar | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Organizer Portal | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Willingham's | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| OLD HENRY'S BBQ | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| Dogpatch Q | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 176.5600 | 151.9428 | 163.97 | top 74% |
| Pork Ribs | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 175.4400 | 151.3716 | 164.81 | top 70% |
| Pork | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 173.1200 | 150.7884 | 161.78 | top 78% |
| Brisket | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.2628 | 145.1084 | 156.96 | top 82% |
“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 91% |
| Large (40+) | 6 | 0 | top 77% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby BBQ Extravaganza (Day 2) | 2 | 33 | 0 | top 97% | Oct 29, 2022 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2022
12 contests
Contests a season
8
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
GA
11 of 16 contests · 5 states in all
Contests visited
11
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
15 entries · 0 wins · 1 call
Opponents faced
386
finished ahead 120 times, behind 577
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20232 milestones
- First call Lakeland Pig Festival
- Most recent contest Almost Heaven BBQ Bash
20226 milestones
- First tracked contest South Carolina Festival of Discovery
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score668.4916 South Carolina Festival of Discovery
- Career-best overall score668.4916 South Carolina Festival of Discovery
- Peak power rating (1502) South Carolina Festival of Discovery
- Career-best single call (Chicken)176.5600 Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que Music Festival
- 10th tracked contest Shelby BBQ Extravaganza (Day 2)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +2.2 | South Carolina Festival of Discovery | Jul 7, 2022 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.6 | Swine At the Shrine | Aug 5, 2022 |
| -8.9 | Swampfest | Mar 31, 2023 |
| -8.7 | Shelby BBQ Extravaganza (Day 2) | Oct 29, 2022 |
| -8.3 | Almost Heaven BBQ Bash | Jun 16, 2023 |
| -7.9 | Shelby BBQ Extravaganza (Day 1) | Oct 28, 2022 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25% | top 91% | 90.1% | 88.1% |
| 2022 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 80% | 92.8% | 88.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 2023 | Almost Heaven BBQ Bash 🏅 Buckhannon, WV | 27 / 28 (621.6116) | 26 (157.6800) | 23 (162.2972) | 28 (150.8344) | 28 (150.8000) |
| Mar 31, 2023 | Swampfest 🏅 Waycross, GA | 27 / 28 (625.5540) | 28 (151.9428) | 24 (162.8000) | 22 (165.7028) | 28 (145.1084) |
| Mar 3, 2023 | Sip & Swine BBQ Festival 🏅 Lawrenceville, GA | 53 / 65 (648.9372) | 45 (166.2512) | 58 (160.5144) | 17 (173.1200) | 60 (149.0516) |
| Jan 27, 2023 | Lakeland Pig Festival 🏅 Lakeland, FL | 46 / 51 (640.4232) | 46 (162.8000) | 7 (175.4400) | 45 (155.9316) | 49 (146.2516) |
| Nov 18, 2022 | Atlanta BBQ Store Classic 🏅 Cumming, GA | 39 / 57 (656.4116) | 37 (165.0972) | 38 (163.9428) | 29 (167.3828) | 48 (159.9888) |
| Nov 17, 2022 | Atlanta BBQ Store Classic (One Meat Ribs) Cumming, GA | — | — | 28 (165.0972) | — | — |
| Oct 29, 2022 | Shelby BBQ Extravaganza (Day 2) 🏅 Shelby, NC | 34 / 34 (639.8628) | 17 (171.4400) | 29 (165.6800) | 34 (150.7884) | 34 (151.9544) |
| Oct 28, 2022 | Shelby BBQ Extravaganza (Day 1) 🏅 Shelby, NC | 33 / 35 (641.5084) | 34 (158.2516) | 25 (166.2628) | 34 (158.1940) | 32 (158.8000) |
| Oct 14, 2022 | Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que Music Festival 🏅 Grovetown, GA | 36 / 51 (667.3144) | 13 (176.5600) | 33 (167.3944) | 48 (162.2628) | 43 (161.0972) |
| Oct 14, 2022 | Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que Music Festival - One Meat Chicken Grovetown, GA | — | 28 (163.9428) | — | — | — |
| Oct 7, 2022 | The Real Squeal BBQ & Music Festival 🏅 Lyons, GA | 22 / 30 (665.0404) | 26 (164.5256) | 16 (167.4060) | 22 (164.5488) | 17 (168.5600) |
| Sep 16, 2022 | Smoketember Fest 🏅 Baxley, GA | 25 / 30 (647.2344) | 22 (165.6800) | 21 (163.9428) | 27 (163.9544) | 26 (153.6572) |
| Sep 16, 2022 | Smoketember Fest (One Meat Ribs) Baxley, GA | — | — | 17 (151.3716) | — | — |
| Aug 5, 2022 | Swine At the Shrine 🏅 Savannah, GA | 49 / 49 (501.6920) | 45 (159.4060) | 20 (172.0232) | — | 24 (170.2628) |
| Aug 5, 2022 | Swine At the Shrine (One Meat Ribs) Savannah, GA | — | — | 21 (162.2516) | — | — |
| Jul 7, 2022 | South Carolina Festival of Discovery 🏅 Greenwood, SC | 47 / 92 (668.4916) | 42 (167.9888) | 57 (165.6684) | 51 (166.8572) | 41 (167.9772) |