The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
BEAR DOWN SMOKIN BBQ has finished one call ahead of Smokin' Hot Butts 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
Smokin' Hot Butts
Smokin' Hot Butts is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 14th of 28 at the Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival (2024). They are ranked #5573 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Smokin Hot Butts”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1450
peak 1450 · rated over 6 contests
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
May 3, 2013
latest Aug 30, 2024 · 11.3 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 10 contests
Avg finish
top 83%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±11.57
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 153.40 · weakest Pork Ribs (148.07)
Road miles
5,769
across 10 mapped stops · furthest 1,391 mi
Schedule strength
35%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1546)
Purse competed for
$8,450
listed at 1 contest — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
601.28 / 720
5 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
299.87 / 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Smokin' Hot Butts, each with one reason worth a look.
115 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#5,575 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1450
Fewer contests behind them than Smokin' Hot Butts has cooked, 6 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#5,556 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1450
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.
⚔ Compare careers#5,569 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1450
Level with Smokin' Hot Butts on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#5,587 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
Fewer contests behind them than Smokin' Hot Butts has cooked, 6 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#5,591 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
Fewer contests behind them than Smokin' Hot Butts has cooked, 6 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#5,586 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 5 years before Smokin' Hot Butts'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 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 165.6800 | 139.9660 | 151.02 | top 75% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.4516 | 136.4796 | 148.07 | top 80% |
| Pork | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 164.5716 | 137.0856 | 153.40 | top 65% |
| Brisket | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.1084 | 127.3828 | 148.53 | top 73% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 94% |
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 79% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 90% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route 66 Smoke Out | 2 | 29 | 0 | top 95% | May 5, 2017 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2017
4 contests
Contests a season
1.4
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
3 of 10 contests · 6 states in all
Contests visited
5
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
160
finished ahead 30 times, behind 153
Longest layoff
6.3 yrs
May 4, 2018 → Aug 30, 2024
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20242 milestones
- 10th tracked contest Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival
- Most recent contest Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival
20172 milestones
- First call I-39 Smokin Car Show
- Career-best single call (Brisket)169.1084 BBQ on the Elbow at the Calgary Stampede
20133 milestones
- First tracked contest North Platte Honky Tonk Barbecue Festival
- Career-best overall score615.4284 North Platte Honky Tonk Barbecue Festival
- Peak power rating (1491) North Platte Honky Tonk Barbecue Festival
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +1.2 | Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival | Aug 30, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13 | Route 66 Smoke Out | May 5, 2017 |
| -11.1 | I-39 Smokin Car Show | Jul 1, 2017 |
| -10.4 | Route 66 Smoke Out | May 6, 2016 |
| -8.6 | North Platte Honky Tonk Barbecue Festival | May 3, 2013 |
| -8.5 | BBQ on the Elbow at the Calgary Stampede | Jul 7, 2017 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 50% | 83.3% | 83.3% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 94% | 84.6% | 83.6% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 90% | 81.2% | 81.2% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 79% | 85.5% | 85.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2024 | Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival 🏅 King, NC | 14 / 28 (299.8744) | 14 (150.2172) | 14 (149.6572) | 11 (151.3828) | — |
| May 4, 2018 | The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ Huntsville, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 7, 2017 | BBQ on the Elbow at the Calgary Stampede Calgary | 20 / 23 (606.1936) | 22 (149.7140) | 20 (150.2856) | 22 (137.0856) | 4 (169.1084) |
| Jul 1, 2017 | I-39 Smokin Car Show Minonk, IL | 17 / 18 (591.3028) | 5 (165.6800) | 18 (137.1200) | 9 (161.1200) | 18 (127.3828) |
| May 5, 2017 | The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ Huntsville, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| May 5, 2017 | Route 66 Smoke Out Dwight, IL | 29 / 29 (609.0636) | 29 (139.9660) | 23 (159.4516) | 14 (164.5716) | 26 (145.0744) |
| May 6, 2016 | Route 66 Smoke Out Dwight, IL | 36 / 40 (584.4112) | 36 (150.8460) | 40 (136.4796) | 33 (152.5484) | 36 (144.5372) |
| Oct 9, 2015 | The River Grill before the Big Chill Cincinnati, OH | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aug 22, 2014 | Music City BBQ Festival Nashville, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| May 3, 2013 | North Platte Honky Tonk Barbecue Festival North Platte, NE | 30 / 38 (615.4284) | 34 (149.7140) | 25 (155.4286) | 29 (153.7140) | 26 (156.5718) |