Nice Racks NJ
Rating
Contests
First seen
Best ToY finish
Grand champs
Category wins
Overall top-10s
Avg finish
Perfect 180s
Current form
Walk rate
Top-10 streak
Consistency
Strongest meat
Road miles
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
B'S QUE has finished one call ahead of Nice Racks 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
👀 Looking over their shoulder
PHILLY BLIND PIG BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.
⚔️ A tough matchup
GLAZED AND INFUSED NEW JERSEY BBQ has come out ahead in 10 of their 13 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of BIG BOB'S SMOKIN QUE in 10 of their 11 shared contests.
🗡️ Giant slayer
Took the Grand Championship over a 30-team field at Maryland State BBQ Bash.
📅 A July team
Something about July: average finish in the top 24% across 7 contests, versus top 34% the rest of the year.
🐣 Announced themselves early
Finished 1 of 23 at their very first tracked contest, Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY) ().
Teams like this (closest power rating, NJ first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 22 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 177.7144 | 157.1200 | 169.20 | top 40% |
| Pork Ribs | 23 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 176.5600 | 157.6572 | 169.01 | top 36% |
| Pork | 21 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 177.1428 | 160.5256 | 170.05 | top 34% |
| Brisket | 21 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 176.5828 | 151.3600 | 164.81 | top 49% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NJ | 7 | 1 | top 18% |
| PA | 6 | 0 | top 29% |
| FL | 4 | 0 | top 67% |
| MD | 3 | 1 | top 25% |
| TN | 1 | 0 | top 80% |
| DE | 1 | 0 | top 25% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 9 | 2 | top 34% |
| Large (40+) | 13 | 0 | top 34% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2022 (4 contests)
- Cooks mostly in NJ (7 of 23 contests)
- Most-entered category: Pork Ribs (23 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY) (null)
- Wins it all in 9% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 657.86
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 1 | 0 | 326.2972 | 326.30 |
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 679.8628 | 675.00 |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 662.7656 | 662.77 |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 689.0856 | 679.54 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 686.8344 | 677.08 |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 693.6572 | 678.88 |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 681.1204 | 668.78 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 673.6004 | 666.16 |
| 2019 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 690.2284 | 672.70 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-25 | Pitmasters in Paradise Auburndale, FL | 24 / 35 (679.8628) | 28 (166.2516) | 7 (176.5600) | 24 (168.5256) | 23 (168.5256) |
| 2026-04-17 | The Downtown BBQ Showdown Lake City, FL | 35 / 41 (670.1372) | 31 (169.6800) | 28 (168.5372) | 29 (170.2628) | 37 (161.6572) |
| 2026-04-17 | The Downtown BBQ Showdown (ONE MEAT RIBS) Lake City, FL | — | — | 18 (168.5372) | — | — |
| 2025-07-12 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 22 / 63 (662.7656) | 47 (157.1200) | 23 (166.2628) | 10 (171.4056) | 15 (167.9772) |
| 2024-07-13 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 21 / 62 (663.3488) | 25 (167.4172) | 1 (174.8572) | 13 (169.6916) | 51 (151.3828) |
| 2024-05-24 | Big Knob BBQ & Brew Fest Rochester, PA | 6 / 23 (689.0856) | 8 (172.5600) | 9 (170.2628) | 3 (177.1428) | 10 (169.1200) |
| 2024-02-09 | Grills Gone Wild Davenport, FL | 15 / 28 (686.1944) | 10 (174.2628) | 6 (175.4288) | 14 (171.9772) | 23 (164.5256) |
| 2023-10-13 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD | 4 / 23 (686.8344) | 12 (170.2744) | 4 (173.7144) | 8 (171.4056) | 7 (171.4400) |
| 2023-07-14 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 16 / 64 (667.3256) | 11 (172.5600) | 35 (162.2628) | 2 (175.4400) | 38 (157.0628) |
| 2022-10-14 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Belair, MD | 16 / 30 (662.7316) | 16 (168.5372) | 4 (174.3088) | 22 (160.5256) | 19 (159.3600) |
| 2022-08-26 | New Holland Summer Fest New Holland, PA | 8 / 49 (687.8856) | 6 (174.2628) | 5 (175.4172) | 16 (169.6800) | 16 (168.5256) |
| 2022-07-09 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 3 / 61 (693.6572) | 2 (177.7144) | 15 (169.1200) | 5 (174.2744) | 7 (172.5484) |
| 2022-01-07 | Southern Sunshine BBQ Fest Lake Wales, FL | 18 / 29 (671.2568) | 19 (168.5256) | 25 (166.8112) | 22 (163.9428) | 8 (171.9772) |
| 2021-10-08 | 32nd Annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series)(JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY) Lynchburg, TN | 56 / 70 (668.5144) | 64 (160.5372) | 22 (173.1544) | 17 (172.0228) | 62 (162.8000) |
| 2021-09-24 | Smoke in the Park Lemoyne, PA | 6 / 31 (681.1204) | 4 (176.0116) | 22 (161.1544) | 2 (176.5600) | 13 (167.3944) |
| 2021-07-09 | New Jersey State BBQ Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 5 / 59 (674.2284) | 4 (176.0000) | 4 (173.1428) | 2 (173.7256) | 38 (151.3600) |
| 2021-05-14 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke Morgantown, PA | 16 / 46 (651.2456) | 10 (168.5256) | 28 (157.6572) | 4 (170.8228) | 34 (154.2400) |
| 2020-07-24 | Smoke in the Grove Spring Grove, PA | 28 / 59 (658.7204) | 27 (165.6800) | 32 (162.8000) | 38 (163.9660) | 25 (166.2744) |
| 2020-06-26 | York County BBQ Festival Delta, PA | 15 / 53 (673.6004) | 22 (170.2628) | 20 (168.5372) | 22 (167.4060) | 21 (167.3944) |
| 2019-10-18 | Boo-B-Que Rehoboth Beach, DE | 16 / 63 (662.8116) | 19 (167.9772) | 22 (162.8916) | 21 (165.6800) | 16 (166.2628) |
| 2019-08-09 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Belair, MD | 1 / 30 (690.2284) | 10 (168.5256) | 6 (173.1428) | 4 (171.9772) | 1 (176.5828) |
| 2019-07-12 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 8 / 64 (665.0516) | 8 (170.8228) | 11 (165.1544) | 29 (164.5256) | 17 (164.5488) |
| Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY) Broadway Westville, NJ | 1 / 23 (326.2972) | 7 (158.8228) | 2 (167.4744) | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #791 (60 pts) | #866 (60 pts) | #687 (141 pts) | #823 (60 pts) | #814 (60 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #803 (163 pts) | #912 (143 pts) | #970 (133 pts) | #725 (223 pts) | #912 (123 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1087 (105 pts) | #984 (130 pts) | #1432 (60 pts) | #653 (260 pts) | #1296 (60 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #683 (255 pts) | #682 (275 pts) | #586 (390 pts) | #890 (175 pts) | #817 (190 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #1059 (105 pts) | #920 (135 pts) | #1309 (60 pts) | #717 (210 pts) | #1245 (60 pts) |
| 2020 ↗ | Master | #567 (170 pts) | #654 (135 pts) | #644 (145 pts) | #652 (135 pts) | #645 (140 pts) |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #1347 (155 pts) | #1419 (155 pts) | #1521 (130 pts) | #2032 (60 pts) | #1748 (100 pts) |
| 2015 ↗ | Master | #1676 (120 pts) | #1742 (125 pts) | #1412 (195 pts) | #1790 (120 pts) | #1576 (155 pts) |
| 2014 ↗ | Master | #2084 (75 pts) | #1497 (190 pts) | #2081 (90 pts) | #2172 (75 pts) | #2148 (75 pts) |
| 2013 ↗ | Master | #1970 (75 pts) | #2073 (75 pts) | #1885 (105 pts) | #2029 (85 pts) | #2034 (75 pts) |