A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY ahead in 100% of their meetings
HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
Slick Bones BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1468
peak 1468 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2017-04-28
latest 2019-11-08
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 89%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
631.92
last 4 Master vs avg 631.92 (+0.00)
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±12.16
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 162.53 · weakest Brisket (154.49)
Road miles
544
mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 141 mi
Schedule strength
78%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1601)
Purse competed for
$5K
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 1 state-championship entries
Master avg
631.92 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (2 found in this team's record)
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
The comeback
1.7 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 1.7 years, then back at Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (Duel A) (2019-11-08).
- last seen 2018-03-10
- back 2019-11-08
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.
Slick Bones BBQ has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 164 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#4724 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4706 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1504
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1504 at their best, 36 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4708 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 5 years after Slick Bones BBQ did, first appearing in 2022.
⚔ Head-to-head#4713 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
Level with Slick Bones BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4694 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1469
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4712 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2400 | 159.9428 | 162.53 | top 78% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5484 | 157.6572 | 158.53 | top 82% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.8228 | 150.7772 | 156.37 | top 84% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.0972 | 145.0400 | 154.49 | top 83% |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 87% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 89% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (Duel A) | 2 | 41 | 0 | top 90% | 2019-11-08 |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2.5 yrs
2017-04-28 → 2019-11-08
Busiest season
2017
3 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
NC
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
3
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 162.53 · weakest Brisket (154.49)
Walk rate
0%
a top-10 call in 0 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 5 contests
Master average
631.92
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
133
20–155 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
544
5 mapped stops · furthest 141 mi
Schedule strength
1601
average field rating faced — tougher than 78% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$5,350
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 1 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1.7 yrs
2018-03-10 → 2019-11-08
Power rating
1468
peak 1468 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2017
- First tracked contest Uptown Lexington BBQ Capital Cook Off
- Peak power rating (1491) Uptown Lexington BBQ Capital Cook Off
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score651.8172 WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley)
- Career-best overall score651.8172 WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)166.2400 WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley)
- 2019
- Most recent contest Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (Duel A)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -8.6 | Uptown Lexington BBQ Capital Cook Off | 2017-04-28 |
| -8.3 | Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (JUDGES FULL) | 2017-11-10 |
| -7.7 | Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (Duel A) | 2019-11-08 |
| -7.4 | WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley) | 2017-07-21 |
Category scores over time
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 94% | 86.3% | 86.3% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 87% | 90.5% | 88.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-11-08 | Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (Duel A) 🏅 Concord, NC | 44 / 47 (621.4288) | 42 (159.9428) | 41 (158.2288) | 47 (150.7772) | 43 (152.4800) |
| 2018-03-10 | *White Street Barbeque Experience(BACKYARD ONLY) Wake Forest, NC | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017-11-10 | Polar Pig BBQ Cook-Off (JUDGES FULL) Concord, NC | 41 / 47 (622.6516) | 32 (162.2744) | 35 (157.6800) | 33 (157.6572) | 45 (145.0400) |
| 2017-07-21 | WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley) Maggie Valley, NC | 41 / 47 (651.8172) | 34 (166.2400) | 43 (157.6572) | 34 (162.8228) | 27 (165.0972) |
| 2017-04-28 | Uptown Lexington BBQ Capital Cook Off Lexington, NC | 33 / 38 (631.7712) | 31 (161.6572) | 28 (160.5484) | 36 (154.2056) | 33 (155.3600) |