High-water mark
677.0284
career-best overall
94.0% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 677.0284 at Cedar Fest BBQ Cook Off — 94.0% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Apr 10, 2026
Rusty Junk BBQ
Rusty Junk BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 16th of 25 at the Best in the Southwest (2024). They are ranked #4045 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1482
peak 1482 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Sep 27, 2023
latest Apr 10, 2026 · 2.5 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 78%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±27.62
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 164.54 · weakest Brisket (161.22)
Road miles
2,494
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 1,190 mi
Schedule strength
85%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1614)
Purse competed for
$121K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Master avg
652.20 / 720
5 Master contests · 0 GCs
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Rusty Junk BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
130 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,030 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1482
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,033 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1482
Level with Rusty Junk BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#4,027 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1483
They were already cooking in 2015, 8 years before Rusty Junk BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#4,066 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1482
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Rusty Junk BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#4,061 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1482
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Rusty Junk BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#4,057 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1482
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 5 years before Rusty Junk BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.6800 | 157.1200 | 164.09 | top 75% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.6916 | 151.3372 | 162.35 | top 74% |
| Pork | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 176.5600 | 151.3712 | 164.54 | top 59% |
| Brisket | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.7028 | 139.9316 | 161.22 | top 72% |
“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) | 3 | 0 | top 82% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 71% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best in the Southwest | 2 | 16 | 0 | top 80% | Feb 21, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AZ
2 of 5 contests · 4 states in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
550
finished ahead 50 times, behind 548
Longest layoff
1.1 yrs
Feb 21, 2025 → Apr 10, 2026
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20262 milestones
- Career-best overall score677.0284 Cedar Fest BBQ Cook Off
- Most recent contest Cedar Fest BBQ Cook Off
20244 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score668.4576 Best in the Southwest
- Peak power rating (1491) Best in the Southwest
- First call Ignite your Passion
- Career-best single call (Pork)176.5600 Ignite your Passion
20231 milestone
- First tracked contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +4.6 | Cedar Fest BBQ Cook Off | Apr 10, 2026 |
| +2.8 | Best in the Southwest | Feb 23, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.5 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Sep 27, 2023 |
| -8 | Best in the Southwest | Feb 21, 2025 |
| -5.9 | Ignite your Passion | Jun 14, 2024 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 44% | 94% | 94% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 90.3% | 90.3% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 75% | 92.8% | 92.6% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 83.3% | 83.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 10, 2026 | Cedar Fest BBQ Cook Off 🏅 Cedar Park, TX | 18 / 41 (677.0284) | 13 (169.6800) | 22 (167.3828) | 15 (170.2628) | 20 (169.7028) |
| Feb 21, 2025 | Best in the Southwest 🏅 Yuma, AZ | 28 / 29 (650.1596) | 27 (165.1428) | 27 (159.3828) | 28 (156.5256) | 16 (169.1084) |
| Jun 14, 2024 | Ignite your Passion 🏅 Winchester, CA | 19 / 22 (665.6004) | 20 (161.1088) | 18 (163.9772) | 2 (176.5600) | 19 (163.9544) |
| Feb 23, 2024 | Best in the Southwest 🏅 Yuma, AZ | 16 / 25 (668.4576) | 18 (167.3828) | 11 (169.6916) | 14 (167.9772) | 18 (163.4060) |
| Sep 27, 2023 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 473 / 487 (599.7600) | 432 (157.1200) | 464 (151.3372) | 461 (151.3712) | 475 (139.9316) |