The heartbreaker
1.1428
points from the title
Came within 1.1428 points of the Grand Championship at Socially Distanced Smoking - Brisket presented by The BBQ League (Apr 6, 2020).
BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ
BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 7 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2018 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 109 at the Socially Distanced Smoking - Brisket presented by The BBQ League (2020), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #2831 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1510
peak 1535 · rated over 5 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
Feb 2, 2018
latest Nov 5, 2025 · 7.8 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
29% of 7 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 47%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
625.85 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 629.99 (-4.15)
Walk rate
29%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±62.74
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 168.58 · weakest Chicken (160.06)
Road miles
1,952
across 7 mapped stops · furthest 643 mi
Schedule strength
29%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1539)
Purse competed for
$164K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
629.99 / 720
6 Master contests · 0 GCs
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #726 (180 pts) | #807 (180 pts) | #848 (180 pts) | #774 (180 pts) | #920 (120 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #874 (135 pts) | #1130 (100 pts) | #1309 (60 pts) | #1068 (110 pts) | #813 (175 pts) |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #1420 (130 pts) | #2049 (60 pts) | #1399 (155 pts) | #1336 (175 pts) | #1260 (185 pts) |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #1954 (60 pts) | #2012 (60 pts) | #1996 (60 pts) | #2030 (60 pts) | #1990 (60 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
95 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,851 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1510
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,832 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1510
Level with BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,823 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1511
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 8 years before BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,816 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1517
They were already cooking in 2013, 5 years before BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#2,820 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1518
Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 11 years before BJ'S BLUE SMOKE BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,833 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1520
Careers of much the same size, 6 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LA PASADITA | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| BULLHORN BBQ | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Rio Valley Meat BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.9656 | 149.1200 | 160.06 | top 61% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.7028 | 143.8516 | 161.66 | top 56% |
| Pork | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 175.4400 | 158.8572 | 167.79 | top 42% |
| Brisket | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 177.1428 | 162.2400 | 168.58 | top 36% |
“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
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humble Rodeo and BBQ | 2 | 11 | 0 | top 19% | Feb 1, 2019 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
3 contests
Contests a season
1.4
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
TX
4 of 7 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
6
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
873
finished ahead 490 times, behind 647
Longest layoff
4.6 yrs
Jan 29, 2021 → Sep 12, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
20211 milestone
- Peak power rating (1535) Humble BBQ Cook Off
20203 milestones
- First overall top-10 Socially Distanced Smoking - Brisket presented by The BBQ League
- First overall podium Socially Distanced Smoking - Brisket presented by The BBQ League
- First Reserve Championship Socially Distanced Smoking - Brisket presented by The BBQ League
20193 milestones
- First call Humble Rodeo and BBQ
- Career-best overall score675.4056 Humble Rodeo and BBQ
- Career-best single call (Brisket)177.1428 Humble Rodeo and BBQ
20182 milestones
- First tracked contest Humble Rodeo and BBQ
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score650.7316 Humble Rodeo and BBQ
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +14 | Humble Rodeo and BBQ | Feb 1, 2019 |
| +13.6 | Humble BBQ Cook Off | Jan 29, 2021 |
| +7.6 | Humble Rodeo and BBQ | Feb 2, 2018 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -16.2 | Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff | Sep 12, 2025 |
| -8.7 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Nov 5, 2025 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 94% | 90.1% | 82.7% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 9% | 92.9% | 92.9% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% | top 2% | 99.4% | 99.4% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 9% | 93.8% | 93.8% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 30% | 90.4% | 90.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 5, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 342 / 401 (644.9488) | 348 (159.9772) | 395 (143.8516) | 80 (175.4056) | 239 (165.7144) |
| Nov 5, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Invitational Contest unrated Kansas City, KS | 154 / 158 (648.4572) | 158 (155.3828) | 146 (162.8228) | 142 (164.5372) | 119 (165.7144) |
| Sep 12, 2025 | Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff 🏅 Waller, TX | 92 / 92 (491.8744) | 47 (166.8344) | 70 (162.2400) | 70 (162.8000) | — |
| Jan 29, 2021 | Humble BBQ Cook Off Humble, TX | 10 / 113 (668.5484) | 17 (167.9656) | 48 (158.8000) | 15 (169.7028) | 6 (172.0800) |
| Apr 6, 2020 | Socially Distanced Smoking - Brisket presented by The BBQ League unrated washington, MO | 2 / 109 (178.8572) | — | — | — | — |
| Feb 1, 2019 | Humble Rodeo and BBQ 🏅 Humble, TX | 11 / 126 (675.4056) | 97 (149.1200) | 8 (173.7028) | 6 (175.4400) | 5 (177.1428) |
| Feb 2, 2018 | Humble Rodeo and BBQ Humble, TX | 43 / 145 (650.7316) | 55 (161.0972) | 26 (168.5372) | 72 (158.8572) | 49 (162.2400) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.