The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
Pork Engineering has finished one call ahead of Bush River BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
Bush River BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1479
peak 1479 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
8
in the data
First seen
2017-08-11
latest 2025-10-10
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 8 contests
Avg finish
top 82%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
13%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 151.04 · weakest Pork Ribs (150.83)
Road miles
0
mi across 8 mapped stops
Schedule strength
28%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1538)
Purse competed for
$38K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
299.63 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
311.10 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Master and Backyard overall scores sit on different scales (Master is 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.
Storylines (4 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.
A tough matchup
5–0
behind in the head-to-head
DRILLING & GRILLING ahead in 100% of their meetings
DRILLING & GRILLING has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.
The comeback
4 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 4 years, then back at MD State BBQ Bash (2025-10-10).
- last seen 2021-10-15
- back 2025-10-10
Boom or bust
±22.63%
swing around their own average
Their overall swings ±22.63% of a perfect score around its own average — when it lands they're dangerous, and when it doesn't the weekend is gone by lunch.
- averages 64.0% of a perfect score
- best 90.9%
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.
148 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4166 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Fewer contests behind them than Bush River BBQ has cooked, 5 to 8, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-head#4169 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Bush River BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4151 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1503
No shared contest yet.
Level with Bush River BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4144 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Bush River BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4159 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Bush River BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4146 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Bush River BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pig Kahunas | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| HARCO LOCO BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| Team Meat Coma | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| DRILLING & GRILLING | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.5828 | 141.1200 | 151.04 | top 85% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158.8344 | 139.9772 | 150.83 | top 85% |
| Pork | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| Brisket | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 88% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 57% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland State BBQ Bash | 4 | 27 | 0 | top 92% | 2021-10-15 |
The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
8.2 yrs
2017-08-11 → 2025-10-10
Busiest season
2025
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 8 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
MD
8 of 8 contests
Contests visited
2
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 151.04 · weakest Pork Ribs (150.83)
Walk rate
13%
a top-10 call in 1 of 8 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 8 contests
Master average
299.63
out of 720 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
311.10
out of 360 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
238
119–251 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
0
8 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1538
average field rating faced — tougher than 28% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$37,500
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 3 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
4 yrs
2021-10-15 → 2025-10-10
Power rating
1479
peak 1479 · #4143 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest 12th Annual Maryland State BBQ Bash
- 2017
- Peak power rating (1499) Maryland State BBQ Bash
- 2025
- First call MD State BBQ Bash
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score327.4172 MD State BBQ Bash
- Career-best overall score327.4172 MD State BBQ Bash
- Career-best single call (Chicken)168.5828 MD State BBQ Bash
- Most recent contest MD State BBQ Bash
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +7.9 | MD State BBQ Bash | 2025-10-10 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.5 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | 2019-08-09 |
| -10.1 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | 2021-10-15 |
| -7.3 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | 2018-08-10 |
| -0.6 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | 2017-08-11 |
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 41% | 90.9% | 90.9% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 124% | 81.9% | 81.9% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 103% | — | — |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 84% | 41.4% | 41.4% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 57% | 41.8% | 41.8% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-10 | MD State BBQ Bash 🏅 Bel Air, MD | 12 / 29 (327.4172) | 9 (168.5828) | 21 (158.8344) | — | — |
| 2021-10-15 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 31 / 25 (294.7884) | 33 (141.1200) | 19 (153.6684) | — | — |
| 2019-08-09 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 31 / 30 (283.3828) | 28 (143.4056) | 32 (139.9772) | — | — |
| 2018-08-10 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD | 32 / 38 (298.2172) | — | — | — | — |
| 2017-08-11 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD | 27 / 47 (301.0400) | — | — | — | — |
| 2016-08-12 | Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014-08-08 | MD State BBQ Bash, Presented by Mars Super Markets Bel Air, MD | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2013-08-09 | 12th Annual Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD | — | — | — | — | — |