High-water mark
674.2056
career-best overall
93.6% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 674.2056 at Smoke in the North (Day 1) — 93.6% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Aug 21, 2026
HellYeah BBQ
HellYeah BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2018 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 12th of 26 at the Smoke in the North (Day 2) (2026). They are ranked #3076 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Hell Yeah! BBQ” and “HELL YEAH BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1504
peak 1507 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Feb 2, 2018
latest Aug 22, 2026 · 8.6 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 54%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
60%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±11.28
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 168.46 · weakest Chicken (158.03)
Road miles
6,093
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 5,103 mi
Schedule strength
39%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1551)
Purse competed for
$9,400
listed at 1 contest — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
662.94 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
313.09 / 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.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #647 (224 pts) | #880 (134 pts) | #638 (299 pts) | #525 (349 pts) | #703 (204 pts) |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to HellYeah BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
119 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,073 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1505
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to HellYeah BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team HellYeah BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,077 of the rated field
- Contests
- 21
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 10%
- Peak
- 1522
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to HellYeah BBQ)
21 contests to 5: their number has had years to settle where HellYeah BBQ's is still finding its level.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,069 of the rated field
- Contests
- 42
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 12%
- Peak
- 1537
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to HellYeah BBQ)
They've been 1537 at their best, 33 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,088 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1521
They turned up 6 years after HellYeah BBQ did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Compare careers#3,062 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1516
Their last contest in the data was back in 2020, 6 years before HellYeah BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,067 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1522
Level with HellYeah BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.8112 | 148.5600 | 158.03 | top 77% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 175.4744 | 159.9772 | 168.46 | top 42% |
| Pork | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 178.2972 | 161.6688 | 167.41 | top 43% |
| Brisket | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 171.4172 | 158.8228 | 165.69 | top 45% |
“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 59% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 46% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke in the North (Day 2) | 2 | 12 | 0 | top 48% | Aug 22, 2026 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
3 contests
Contests a season
2.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
1 of 5 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
275
finished ahead 157 times, behind 142
Longest layoff
8.5 yrs
Mar 2, 2018 → Aug 14, 2026
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20263 milestones
- Career-best overall score674.2056 Smoke in the North (Day 1)
- Career-best single call (Pork)178.2972 Smoke in the North (Day 1)
- Most recent contest Smoke in the North (Day 2)
20184 milestones
- First tracked contest Humble Rodeo and BBQ
- First call Humble Rodeo and BBQ
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score648.4688 Humble Rodeo and BBQ
- Peak power rating (1507) Humble Rodeo and BBQ
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +7.1 | Humble Rodeo and BBQ | Feb 2, 2018 |
| +3.2 | Smoke in the North (Day 2) | Aug 22, 2026 |
| +1.5 | Smoke in the North (Day 1) | Aug 21, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -7.1 | Smoke N for the Kids (Day 1) | Aug 14, 2026 |
| -1.1 | Fire on Ice Barbecue World Championship | Mar 2, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | top 59% | 93.6% | 91.4% |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 46% | 91% | 90.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2026 | Smoke in the North (Day 2) Boras | 12 / 26 (673.6916) | 26 (158.8000) | 4 (175.4744) | 11 (168) | 8 (171.4172) |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Smoke in the North (Day 1) Boras | 14 / 28 (674.2056) | 19 (166.8112) | 16 (170.2744) | 3 (178.2972) | 24 (158.8228) |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Smoke N for the Kids (Day 1) 🏅 Troy, IL | 21 / 26 (313.0860) | 21 (153.1088) | 17 (159.9772) | — | — |
| Mar 2, 2018 | Fire on Ice Barbecue World Championship Onamia, MN | 35 / 57 (655.3944) | 37 (162.8684) | 39 (161.7144) | 42 (161.6800) | 17 (169.1316) |
| Feb 2, 2018 | Humble Rodeo and BBQ Humble, TX | 45 / 145 (648.4688) | 102 (148.5600) | 7 (174.8572) | 66 (161.6688) | 46 (163.3828) |