The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
OUR BARK IS BETTER THAN YOUR BITE has finished one call ahead of Garage Beers BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
Garage Beers BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1479
peak 1479 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
12
in the data
First seen
2023-03-24
latest 2026-03-27
Best ToY finish
#263
Backyard 2026
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 12 contests
Avg finish
top 78%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
646.51
last 3 Master vs avg 646.51 (+0.00)
Walk rate
17%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.70
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 165.18 · weakest Pork (155.55)
Road miles
0
mi across 12 mapped stops
Schedule strength
81%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1605)
Purse competed for
$24K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 6 state-championship entries
Master avg
646.51 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
332.53 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs
Master and Backyard overall scores sit on different scales (Master is 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.
Storylines (7 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.
Their season
2026
their best year
2026 was the year it came together: 3 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 35%.
- 3 contests
- 0 overall top-10s
- 0 category wins
- average top 35%
A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
3 EYZ BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
3 EYZ BBQ has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
Chicken nemesis
7 of 8
shared chicken entries lost
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE ahead 88% of the time
Even in their strongest meat, OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE has out-cooked them in 7 of 8 shared chicken entries.
They cook the hard rooms
1605
average field rating faced
A tougher draw than 81% of rated fields
The fields they enter average a 1605 power rating — a tougher draw than 81% of every rated contest in the data.
- 4 rated contests
The metronome
±1.53%
swing around their own average
Their overall lands within ±1.53% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.
- averages 90.4% of a perfect score
- 12 contests
A standing appointment
4
years running at one contest
They've cooked BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) every year from 2023 to 2026 — the contest they never miss.
- 4 visits in all
- best finish 14th
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.
Garage Beers 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 146 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.
#4205 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1511
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1511 at their best, 33 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4209 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1507
No shared contest yet.
Fewer contests behind them than Garage Beers BBQ has cooked, 5 to 12, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-head#4210 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1502
No shared contest yet.
Level with Garage Beers BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4186 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Garage Beers BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4190 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2014, 9 years before Garage Beers BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#4199 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Garage Beers BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.8460 | 155.9660 | 165.18 | top 67% |
| Pork Ribs | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.2744 | 160.5828 | 164.41 | top 67% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163.3828 | 150.2172 | 155.55 | top 92% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.3944 | 160.5144 | 164.92 | 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.
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) | 4 | 14 | 0 | top 78% | 2026-03-27 |
The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3 yrs
2023-03-24 → 2026-03-27
Busiest season
2026
3 contests
Contests a season
3
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
VA
12 of 12 contests
Contests visited
1
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
8 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 165.18 · weakest Pork (155.55)
Walk rate
17%
a top-10 call in 2 of 12 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 12 contests
Master average
646.51
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
332.53
out of 360 · 1 contest · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
141
48–234 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
0
12 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1605
average field rating faced — tougher than 81% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$24,490
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 6 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1 yrs
2025-03-21 → 2026-03-27
Power rating
1479
peak 1479 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2023
- First tracked contest BBQ Gives Back (One Meat Ribs)
- First call BBQ Gives Back (One Meat Ribs)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score649.5548 BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard)
- Peak power rating (1490) BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard)
- 2024
- Career-best overall score655.3144 BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard)
- 2026
- 10th tracked contest BBQ Gives Back (ONE MEAT RIBS)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)170.8460 BBQ Gives Back (Day 1)
- Most recent contest BBQ Gives Back (ONE MEAT CHICKEN)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +7.8 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) | 2026-03-27 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.4 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) | 2025-03-21 |
| -9.9 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) | 2023-03-24 |
| -9.1 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) | 2024-03-22 |
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)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 35% | 92.4% | 92.4% |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 98% | 88.1% | 88.1% |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 87% | 91% | 91% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 91% | 90.2% | 90.2% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-27 | BBQ Gives Back (ONE MEAT CHICKEN) Urbanna, VA | — | 11 (170.8344) | — | — | — |
| 2026-03-27 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | 14 / 40 (332.5260) | 8 (170.8460) | 16 (161.6800) | — | — |
| 2026-03-27 | BBQ Gives Back (ONE MEAT RIBS) Urbanna, VA | — | — | 19 (165.1200) | — | — |
| 2025-03-21 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | 44 / 45 (634.6748) | 43 (155.9660) | 34 (167.9772) | 45 (150.2172) | 40 (160.5144) |
| 2025-03-21 | BBQ Gives Back (ONE MEAT CHICKEN) Urbanna, VA | — | 21 (161.6688) | — | — | — |
| 2025-03-21 | BBQ Gives Back (ONE MEAT RIBS) Urbanna, VA | — | — | 15 (160.5828) | — | — |
| 2024-03-22 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | 39 / 45 (655.3144) | 39 (163.3944) | 37 (161.6800) | 36 (163.3828) | 28 (166.8572) |
| 2024-03-22 | BBQ Gives Back (One Meat Chicken) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | — | 15 (167.3828) | — | — | — |
| 2024-03-22 | BBQ Gives Back (One Meat Ribs) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | — | — | 23 (162.8344) | — | — |
| 2023-03-24 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | 48 / 53 (649.5548) | 45 (163.9772) | 41 (165.1204) | 51 (153.0628) | 27 (167.3944) |
| 2023-03-24 | BBQ Gives Back (One Meat Chicken) Urbanna, VA | — | 22 (167.3828) | — | — | — |
| 2023-03-24 | BBQ Gives Back (One Meat Ribs) Urbanna, VA | — | — | 10 (170.2744) | — | — |
Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)
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 ↗ | Backyard | #263 (104 pts) | #155 (266 pts) | #209 (175 pts) | — | — |
| 2026 ↗ | Master | — | #813 (122 pts) | #998 (81 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #1148 (60 pts) | #927 (129 pts) | #911 (156 pts) | #1190 (60 pts) | #1190 (60 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #862 (162 pts) | #1014 (121 pts) | #1231 (60 pts) | #1204 (60 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1255 (60 pts) | #977 (133 pts) | #883 (193 pts) | #1287 (60 pts) | #1296 (60 pts) |