A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE ahead in 100% of their meetings
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
The Bearded Grillbillies
The Bearded Grillbillies is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2018 and 2020. Their best overall finish is 13th of 30 at the Maryland State BBQ Bash (2019).
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1502
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 3
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Jun 29, 2018
latest Jun 26, 2020 · 2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 55%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 155.11 · weakest Brisket (141.66)
Road miles
40
across 5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
57%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1572)
Purse competed for
$20K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
601.57 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
308.50 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360), 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to The Bearded Grillbillies, each with one reason worth a look.
The Bearded Grillbillies has 3 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 116 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,158 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1518
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,166 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1508
They turned up 7 years after The Bearded Grillbillies did, first appearing in 2025.
⚔ Compare careers#3,160 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
Level with The Bearded Grillbillies on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,149 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1511
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,165 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1522
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,157 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1504
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 154.8456 | 151.3600 | 153.10 | top 56% |
| Pork Ribs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 156.5716 | 153.6572 | 155.11 | top 53% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 151.9772 | 151.9772 | 151.98 | top 91% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 141.6572 | 141.6572 | 141.66 | top 97% |
“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) | 2 | 0 | top 64% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 36% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| York County BBQ Festival | 2 | 19 | 0 | top 60% | Jun 26, 2020 |
More numbers
Contests a season
1
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MD
3 of 5 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
2
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
144
finished ahead 84 times, behind 87
Longest layoff
3 yrs
Aug 8, 2014 → Aug 11, 2017
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20202 milestones
- Peak power rating (1502) York County BBQ Festival
- Most recent contest York County BBQ Festival
20182 milestones
- Career-best overall score601.5660 York County BBQ Festival
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)156.5716 York County BBQ Festival
20141 milestone
- First tracked contest MD State BBQ Bash, Presented by Mars Super Markets
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +5.8 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | Aug 9, 2019 |
| +2.5 | York County BBQ Festival | Jun 26, 2020 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -6.7 | York County BBQ Festival | Jun 29, 2018 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 36% | 85.7% | 85.7% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 43% | 84.9% | 84.9% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 85% | 83.6% | 83.6% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 2020 | York County BBQ Festival 🏅 Delta, PA | 19 / 53 (308.5028) | 18 (154.8456) | 18 (153.6572) | — | — |
| Aug 9, 2019 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 13 / 30 (305.6344) | — | — | — | — |
| Jun 29, 2018 | York County BBQ Festival Delta, PA | 28 / 33 (601.5660) | 26 (151.3600) | 24 (156.5716) | 30 (151.9772) | 32 (141.6572) |
| Aug 11, 2017 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aug 8, 2014 | MD State BBQ Bash, Presented by Mars Super Markets Bel Air, MD | — | — | — | — | — |