They almost always walk
62%
of contests with a top-10 call
A call in 8 of 13 contests
A top-10 category call in 62% of their 13 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.
BJ's Smokin Pistols
BJ's Smokin Pistols is a competition barbecue team with 13 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2022. Their best overall finish is 6th of 16 at the Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship (2014). They are ranked #3745 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1488
peak 1508 · rated over 12 contests
Contests
13
in the data
First seen
May 17, 2014
latest Oct 14, 2022 · 8.4 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
15% of 13 contests
Avg finish
top 63%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
644.09 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 645.49 (-1.40)
Walk rate
62%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±15.63
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 164.02 · weakest Brisket (156.96)
Road miles
3,910
across 13 mapped stops · furthest 998 mi
Schedule strength
47%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1561)
Purse competed for
$10K
listed at 1 contest — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
645.49 / 720
12 Master contests · 0 GCs
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to BJ's Smokin Pistols, each with one reason worth a look.
137 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,744 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 30%
- Peak
- 1488
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to BJ's Smokin Pistols)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team BJ's Smokin Pistols has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,738 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1503
Careers of much the same size, 13 contests to 13, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,754 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 23%
- Peak
- 1488
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 13 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#3,730 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1489
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 5 years before BJ's Smokin Pistols's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,746 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
Level with BJ's Smokin Pistols on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,731 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1489
They turned up 7 years after BJ's Smokin Pistols did, first appearing in 2021.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 171.9656 | 151.9656 | 164.02 | top 52% |
| Pork Ribs | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 173.1200 | 142.7656 | 162.11 | top 59% |
| Pork | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 173.1544 | 150.1940 | 162.40 | top 60% |
| Brisket | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 167.9656 | 139.9544 | 156.96 | top 67% |
“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) | 3 | 0 | top 54% |
| Medium (20–39) | 7 | 0 | top 66% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 63% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship | 2 | 6 | 0 | top 59% | Aug 7, 2015 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2015
4 contests
Contests a season
2.6
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MO
6 of 13 contests · 5 states in all
Contests visited
11
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
279
finished ahead 130 times, behind 221
Longest layoff
4 yrs
Oct 12, 2018 → Oct 14, 2022
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20221 milestone
- Most recent contest King of the Corn
20183 milestones
- 10th tracked contest Fire it up Frostproof!
- Career-best single call (Pork)173.1544 SMOKEToBERFEST
- Career-best overall score665.0284 Anchor City Cook Off
20145 milestones
- First tracked contest Smokin on the Lake
- First call Smokin on the Lake
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score663.9200 Smokin on the Lake
- First overall top-10 Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship
- Peak power rating (1508) Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +6.9 | Bikes Blues & BBQ | Sep 25, 2015 |
| +6.4 | Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship | Aug 15, 2014 |
| +5.9 | Smoke on the Prairie | May 29, 2015 |
| +4.3 | SMOKEToBERFEST | Oct 5, 2018 |
| +3.7 | Anchor City Cook Off | Oct 12, 2018 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.1 | Hermann Bar-BQ and Brats Festival | Sep 26, 2014 |
| -10.2 | King of the Corn | Oct 14, 2022 |
| -7.4 | Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship | Aug 7, 2015 |
| -6.8 | Smoke the Town | Sep 1, 2017 |
| -5.4 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown (JUDGES FULL) | Jul 21, 2017 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | top 52% | 92.4% | 91.5% |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 77% | 89% | 87.2% |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 75% | top 55% | 91.4% | 90% |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 60% | 92.2% | 89.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 2022 | King of the Corn 🏅 Ottumwa, IA | 33 / 36 (646.2284) | 33 (162.2284) | 28 (162.8456) | 31 (162.2972) | 28 (158.8572) |
| Oct 12, 2018 | Anchor City Cook Off Centralia, MO | 17 / 33 (665.0284) | 8 (171.4400) | 18 (165.6800) | 19 (167.3828) | 23 (160.5256) |
| Oct 5, 2018 | SMOKEToBERFEST Ottumwa, IA | 21 / 40 (653.0056) | 22 (161.6800) | 21 (162.2628) | 4 (173.1544) | 31 (155.9084) |
| Sep 1, 2018 | Fire it up Frostproof! Frostproof, FL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 1, 2017 | Smoke the Town Leon, IA | 13 / 16 (640.4572) | 15 (151.9656) | 3 (173.1200) | 10 (161.1200) | 13 (154.2516) |
| Jul 21, 2017 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown (JUDGES FULL) Peoria, IL | 35 / 48 (615.7368) | 14 (165.1316) | 46 (142.7656) | 41 (150.1940) | 22 (157.6456) |
| Sep 25, 2015 | Bikes Blues & BBQ Fayetteville, AR | 13 / 35 (656.4112) | 4 (171.9656) | 9 (167.4172) | 18 (161.0856) | 21 (155.9428) |
| Sep 19, 2015 | Table Rock Boats and Bones Kimberling City, MO | 19 / 33 (650.6856) | 16 (167.3828) | 25 (161.1200) | 29 (155.9428) | 17 (166.2400) |
| Aug 7, 2015 | Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship Kirksville, MO | 21 / 26 (627.2916) | 13 (161.6800) | 6 (169.7028) | 24 (155.9544) | 24 (139.9544) |
| May 29, 2015 | Smoke on the Prairie Brimfield, IL | 8 / 18 (658.1828) | 9 (164.5600) | 6 (166.2400) | 10 (159.4172) | 5 (167.9656) |
| Sep 26, 2014 | Hermann Bar-BQ and Brats Festival Hermann, MO | 34 / 37 (621.0284) | 33 (155.9656) | 36 (149.7028) | 28 (161.1084) | 31 (154.2516) |
| Aug 15, 2014 | Missouri's North Star BBQ Championship Kirksville, MO | 6 / 16 (647.8744) | 8 (163.9772) | 11 (162.2400) | 2 (172) | 12 (149.6572) |
| May 17, 2014 | Smokin on the Lake Monroe City, MO | 13 / 25 (663.9200) | 8 (170.2628) | 22 (162.2628) | 10 (169.1200) | 15 (162.2744) |