High-water mark
681.6116
career-best overall
94.7% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 681.6116 at American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest — 94.7% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Sep 30, 2026
Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ
Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 9 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2025 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 5th of 26 at the Torry Island BBQ Showdown (2025). They are ranked #3407 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1495
peak 1511 · rated over 8 contests
Contests
9
in the data
First seen
Mar 21, 2025
latest Sep 30, 2026 · 1.5 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
11% of 9 contests
Avg finish
top 58%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
325.76
last 5 Backyard vs avg 325.98 (-0.22)
Walk rate
56%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±4.94
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 169.40 · weakest Chicken (161.68)
Road miles
1,952
across 9 mapped stops · furthest 1,230 mi
Schedule strength
57%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1572)
Purse competed for
$123K
listed at 9 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
681.61 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
325.98 / 360
7 Backyard contests · 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)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
127 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,409 of the rated field
- Contests
- 14
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1495
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,397 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1495
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#3,398 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1504
Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 9, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,410 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1495
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,427 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 9%
- Peak
- 1504
They were already cooking in 2014, 11 years before Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,394 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1507
Level with Jessi James Smoking Guns BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bramble BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Skinny Pig BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177.7144 | 153.6800 | 161.68 | top 58% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 174.2744 | 158.7884 | 167.41 | top 46% |
| Pork | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 171.4172 | 167.3828 | 169.40 | top 41% |
| Brisket | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 163.3828 | 162.2400 | 162.81 | top 54% |
“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) | 7 | 0 | top 60% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 47% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smokin Ribs for the Kids (BACKYARD ONLY) (Contest 1) | 2 | 18 | 0 | top 76% | Aug 28, 2026 |
| Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Day 2) | 2 | 21 | 0 | top 76% | Jul 18, 2026 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
7 contests
Contests a season
4.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
3 of 9 contests · 4 states in all
Contests visited
6
2 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
9 entries · 0 wins · 4 calls
Opponents faced
488
finished ahead 282 times, behind 301
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20263 milestones
- Career-best overall score681.6116 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Career-best single call (Chicken)177.7144 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Most recent contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
20255 milestones
- First tracked contest Torry Island BBQ Showdown
- First call Torry Island BBQ Showdown
- First overall top-10 Torry Island BBQ Showdown
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score331.3944 Plant City Pig Jam
- Peak power rating (1511) Plant City Pig Jam
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.1 | Torry Island BBQ Showdown | Mar 21, 2025 |
| +5.2 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Sep 30, 2026 |
| +1.5 | Plant City Pig Jam | Nov 21, 2025 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -5.3 | Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Day 1) | Jul 17, 2026 |
| -4.6 | Smokin Ribs for the Kids (BACKYARD ONLY) (Contest 2) | Aug 28, 2026 |
| -4.3 | Smokin Ribs for the Kids (BACKYARD ONLY) (Contest 1) | Aug 28, 2026 |
| -4.3 | Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Day 2) | Jul 18, 2026 |
| -2 | Cruisin' and BBQin' | Jul 31, 2026 |
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 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43% | top 67% | 94.7% | 91.2% |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 31% | 92.1% | 90.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest Kansas City, KS | 169 / 360 (681.6116) | 20 (177.7144) | 93 (174.2744) | 234 (167.3828) | 286 (162.2400) |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Smokin Ribs for the Kids (BACKYARD ONLY) (Contest 1) Cherry Valley, IL | 18 / 24 (318.1828) | 18 (159.3944) | 17 (158.7884) | — | — |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Smokin Ribs for the Kids (BACKYARD ONLY) (Contest 2) Cherry Valley, IL | 19 / 25 (324.5144) | 24 (153.6800) | 12 (170.8344) | — | — |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Smokin Ribs for the Kids (ONE MEAT RIBS) Cherry Valley, IL | — | — | 10 (166.2856) | — | — |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Cruisin' and BBQin' 🏅 Hampton, IA | 14 / 26 (325.6456) | 14 (157.6684) | 9 (167.9772) | — | — |
| Jul 18, 2026 | Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Day 2) Miles, IA | 21 / 28 (333.6572) | 21 (166.2400) | 17 (167.4172) | — | — |
| Jul 17, 2026 | Great River Threshers BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Day 1) Miles, IA | 21 / 27 (326.8232) | 25 (154.8344) | 9 (171.9888) | — | — |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Plant City Pig Jam 🏅 Plant City, FL | 13 / 31 (331.3944) | 14 (163.9544) | 13 (167.4400) | 5 (171.4172) | 9 (163.3828) |
| Mar 21, 2025 | Torry Island BBQ Showdown 🏅 Belle Glade, FL | 5 / 26 (321.6688) | 5 (159.9544) | 5 (161.7144) | — | — |