Hot Rod's BBQ

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#2904

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1508

peak 1508 · rated over 30 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2013-07-12

latest 2018-10-05

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

5 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 30 contests

Avg finish

top 58%

overall standings

Best overall

670.8344 / 720

Master · Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship

Perfect 180s

Current form

646.25 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 622.42 (+23.84)

Walk rate

33%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

175.4400

Chicken · Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship

Consistency

±20.61

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 159.67 · weakest Brisket (153.08)

Road miles

2,679

mi across 30 mapped stops · furthest 139 mi

Schedule strength

37%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1548)

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 1 state-championship entries

Master avg

622.42 / 720

30 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (11 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.

On the rise

+47 rating points in a year

Their power rating has climbed 47 points across 7 contests since 2018-04-28 — from 1461 up to 1508.

7 contests since 2018-04-28
now 1508

High-water mark

670.8344 career-best overall

93.2% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 670.8344 at Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship — 93.2% of a perfect 720.

Master
2018-10-05

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

HERDER HERDER BBQ has finished one call ahead of Hot Rod's BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2018 their best year

2018 was the year it came together: 7 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 46%.

7 contests
1 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 46%

A tough matchup

20–0 behind in the head-to-head

Dr. Pearl's Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team ahead in 100% of their meetings

Dr. Pearl's Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team has come out ahead in 20 of their 20 shared contests.

The weak link

−6.6 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 6.60 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 10% of the time against 13%.

Brisket avg 153.08
Chicken avg 159.67
3 calls in 30 entries

A strong matchup

11–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 92% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Fire Ants BBQ in 11 of their 12 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

16 of 21 shared chicken entries lost

SMOKOPOLIS BBQ ahead 76% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SMOKOPOLIS BBQ has out-cooked them in 16 of 21 shared chicken entries.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Tom Tom Bob A Que has landed one call behind them 2 times.

A July team

Top 48% average finish in July

Something about July: average finish in the top 48% across 7 contests, versus top 58% the rest of the year.

7 July contests
top 58% the rest of the year

A standing appointment

6 years running at one contest

They've cooked New Jersey State Barbecue Championship every year from 2013 to 2018 — the contest they never miss.

6 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.

118 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

At Ease

#2910 of the rated field

1507 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 27
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 4%
Peak: 1507

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 27 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 27 contests
last seen 2026-08-28

⚔ Head-to-head

Beachdogs 502 BBQ

#2894 of the rated field

1508 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 25
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 8%
Peak: 1522

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 25 contests to 30, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 25 contests
last seen 2025-08-15

⚔ Head-to-head

BURNIN' SANDS BBQ

#2911 of the rated field

1507 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 41
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 15%
Peak: 1515

No shared contest yet.

41 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 15% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 40 contests
last seen 2026-03-13

⚔ Head-to-head

OWENSBORO PORK PULLERS

#2920 of the rated field

1507 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 42
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1527

No shared contest yet.

Level with Hot Rod's BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 42 contests
last seen 2025-09-19

⚔ Head-to-head

BBQ Bonanza

#2921 of the rated field

1507 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1526

No shared contest yet.

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.

rated over 21 contests
last seen 2024-04-05

⚔ Head-to-head

Brisket Bones n Brews

#2917 of the rated field

1507 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1509

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 20 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 20 contests
last seen 2026-07-17

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit	22	4	18	18%	⚔ compare
SMOKOPOLIS BBQ	21	2	19	10%	⚔ compare
MOON RIVER BARBEQUE	20	6	14	30%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN' TEX BBQ	20	5	15	25%	⚔ compare
Dr. Pearl's Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team	20	0	20	0%	⚔ compare
RIBS WITHIN	18	3	15	17%	⚔ compare
LOCAL SMOKE BBQ	18	1	17	6%	⚔ compare
Chicken Chokers	18	1	17	6%	⚔ compare
BEERBEQUE	18	0	18	0%	⚔ compare
SIR-PORK'S-ALOT BBQ	17	3	14	18%	⚔ compare
SHADY CREW	16	4	12	25%	⚔ compare
THE BBQ GURU	15	1	14	7%	⚔ compare
Tom Tom Bob A Que	14	11	3	79%	⚔ compare
BURNT SIDE DOWN	14	6	8	43%	⚔ compare
QUEGASM	14	5	9	36%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	30	4	2	175.4400	146.8000	159.67	top 52%
Pork Ribs	30	2	2	172.6060	139.3828	154.20	top 63%
Pork	30	3	1	171.4400	141.6228	155.46	top 60%
Brisket	30	3	0	169.7028	129.5772	153.08	top 58%

“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 state / province

Where	Contests	Avg finish
NJ	20	top 60%
PA	5	top 47%
CT	3	top 67%
NY	2	top 55%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	4	0	top 77%
Large (40+)	26	0	top 55%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
New Jersey State Barbecue Championship	6	14	top 47%	2018-07-14
*Que by the Sea	5	20	top 61%	2017-09-22
Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival	3	11	top 67%	2018-05-05
Hudson Valley Ribfest	2	20	top 55%	2018-08-17
Que for the Troops	2	32	top 67%	2018-06-01
*Red, White and Que	2	18	top 68%	2017-09-30
DO AC Smokin' Hot Atlantic City BBQ Championship	2	35	top 66%	2014-10-03

The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 5.2 yrs 2013-07-12 → 2018-10-05

Busiest season 2018 7 contests

Contests a season 5 across 6 seasons in the data

Cooks most in NJ 20 of 30 contests · 4 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 15 7 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 30 entries · 0 wins · 4 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 159.67 · weakest Brisket (153.08)

Walk rate 33% a top-10 call in 10 of 30 contests

Overall top-10 rate 3% 1 of 30 contests

Master average 622.42 out of 720 · 30 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 501 656–876 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 2,679 30 mapped stops · furthest 139 mi

Schedule strength 1548 average field rating faced — tougher than 37% of rated contests

State championships 0 from 1 state-championship entries

Power rating 1508 peak 1508 · #2904 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2013
Jul 12 First tracked contest New Jersey State Barbecue Championship
2014
Jul 11 First call New Jersey State Barbecue Championship
2015
Oct 9 10th tracked contest Smokin Hot Atlantic City BBQ Championship $15,000
2018
May 5 First overall past 90% of a perfect score661.0860 Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival
May 5 25th tracked contest Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival
Oct 5 First overall top-10 Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship
Oct 5 Career-best overall score670.8344 Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship
Oct 5 Career-best single call (Chicken)175.4400 Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship
Oct 5 Peak power rating (1508) Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship
Oct 5 Most recent contest Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+17.6	Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship	2018-10-05
+13.1	Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival	2018-05-05
+11.4	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship	2018-07-14
+5.9	Que for the Troops	2016-06-03
+5.7	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship	2016-07-08

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11.3	Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival	2016-04-30
-7.6	DO AC Smokin' Hot Atlantic City BBQ Championship	2013-10-05
-7.5	Que for the Troops	2017-06-02
-6.1	New Jersey KnoQ-out-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES	2018-04-28
-5.9	Smoke on the Water Barbecue Championship	2016-10-08

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	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2018	7	1	86%	top 46%	93.2%	89.5%
2017	6	0	0%	top 72%	88.9%	85.9%
2016	7	0	43%	top 55%	89.3%	86.6%
2015	4	0	0%	top 60%	87.2%	86%
2014	3	0	33%	top 57%	86%	85.4%
2013	3	0	0%	top 66%	83%	82.7%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2018-10-05	Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship 🏅 Harrisburg, PA	4 / 42 (670.8344)	2 (175.4400)	2 (172.0344)	9 (167.4172)	34 (155.9428)
2018-08-17	Hudson Valley Ribfest New Paltz, NY	41 / 58 (631.2344)	32 (162.8344)	45 (156.5144)	44 (155.3828)	36 (156.5028)
2018-07-27	Smoke in the Grove Spring Grove, PA	28 / 54 (646.1140)	47 (151.3828)	34 (161.0856)	21 (163.9428)	8 (169.7028)
2018-07-14	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ	14 / 64 (642.1144)	13 (165.7144)	47 (150.2288)	31 (159.9312)	10 (166.2400)
2018-06-01	Que for the Troops Levittown, PA	32 / 61 (640.9716)	27 (163.9656)	40 (155.3944)	49 (153.0744)	10 (168.5372)
2018-05-05	Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival Ridgefield, CT	11 / 40 (661.0860)	3 (174.8572)	16 (162.3200)	12 (167.3944)	23 (156.5144)
2018-04-28	New Jersey KnoQ-out-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES Blairstown, NJ	34 / 40 (619.1996)	5 (171.4056)	27 (159.4172)	40 (142.1596)	36 (146.2172)
2017-09-30	*Red, White and Que Cresskill, NJ	18 / 31 (639.9428)	17 (164.6056)	22 (157.1200)	24 (155.3828)	15 (162.8344)
2017-09-22	*Que by the Sea Seaside Heights, NJ	33 / 43 (623.2572)	30 (160.5484)	28 (157.6916)	27 (157.0972)	35 (147.9200)
2017-09-15	Smoke on the Water New Jersey State Barbecue Championship Atlantic City, NJ	33 / 42 (619.2228)	31 (155.9884)	37 (153.0744)	32 (155.9312)	29 (154.2288)
2017-07-07	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ	40 / 67 (612.3200)	28 (161.6684)	46 (149.0972)	56 (143.3372)	23 (158.2172)
2017-06-02	Que for the Troops Levittown, PA	51 / 63 (613.5088)	54 (151.9200)	50 (153.7144)	48 (152.5144)	40 (155.3600)
2017-05-06	Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival Ridgefield, CT	29 / 38 (604.4232)	14 (159.9772)	32 (147.3944)	29 (147.3944)	25 (149.6572)
2016-10-08	Smoke on the Water Barbecue Championship Atlantic City, NJ	38 / 48 (628.3884)	14 (168.5600)	39 (152.4800)	43 (153.1084)	40 (154.2400)
2016-09-24	Red White and Que Cresskill, NJ	18 / 41 (643.3140)	5 (170.2628)	23 (155.9656)	16 (162.8456)	24 (154.2400)
2016-09-17	* Que by the Sea Seaside Heights, NJ	20 / 44 (631.8632)	25 (159.9428)	3 (172.6060)	24 (157.6572)	35 (141.6572)
2016-08-19	Hudson Valley Ribfest New Paltz, NY	20 / 52 (622.7656)	45 (154.2400)	47 (148.5488)	40 (147.9428)	45 (146.7772)
2016-07-08	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ	25 / 65 (628.4000)	42 (153.0744)	44 (149.7028)	7 (164.5372)	20 (161.0856)
2016-06-03	Que for the Troops Levittown, PA	27 / 67 (639.2340)	60 (150.7540)	33 (161.0856)	28 (160.5372)	16 (166.8572)
2016-04-30	Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival Ridgefield, CT	38 / 39 (570.0800)	35 (146.8000)	38 (139.3828)	27 (152.5372)	39 (131.3600)
2015-10-09	Smokin Hot Atlantic City BBQ Championship $15,000 Atlantic City, NJ	25 / 46 (627.9088)	22 (161.7144)	13 (163.9772)	45 (142.2172)	15 (160.0000)
2015-09-26	Red, White and Que Cresskill, NJ	27 / 35 (602.0800)	26 (153.6572)	31 (143.9428)	18 (157.1200)	22 (147.3600)
2015-09-19	Que by the Sea Seaside Heights, NJ	20 / 41 (627.3600)	31 (153.1200)	14 (162.2744)	17 (161.6684)	25 (150.2972)
2015-07-10	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ	39 / 65 (620.4232)	19 (164.0116)	22 (164.0116)	16 (162.8228)	63 (129.5772)
2014-10-03	DO AC Smokin' Hot Atlantic City BBQ Championship Atlantic City, NJ	35 / 65 (619.4060)	20 (162.3088)	46 (147.3944)	37 (155.9656)	31 (153.7372)
2014-09-20	Que by the Sea Seaside Heights, NJ	35 / 48 (609.0512)	22 (158.2856)	35 (148.5144)	25 (156.5712)	35 (145.6800)
2014-07-11	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ	28 / 65 (616.5028)	44 (150.8456)	45 (148.0000)	3 (171.4400)	45 (146.2172)
2013-10-05	DO AC Smokin' Hot Atlantic City BBQ Championship Atlantic City, NJ	66 / 85 (593.6576)	40 (158.2744)	74 (140.5716)	69 (145.1200)	49 (149.6916)
2013-09-21	Que by the Sea Seaside Heights, NJ	30 / 49 (597.5084)	25 (153.1540)	33 (143.3372)	32 (149.0628)	20 (151.9544)
2013-07-12	New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ	38 / 65 (595.2920)	35 (150.8572)	33 (149.1316)	55 (141.6228)	26 (153.6804)

Hot Rod's BBQ

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (11 found in this team's record)

On the rise

High-water mark

The one to beat

Their season

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Chicken nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

A July team

A standing appointment

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By state / province

By contest size

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

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

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)