A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Capt. Blue BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Capt. Blue BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Smoke Rings Barbecue
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1465
peak 1465 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2019-08-09
latest 2025-10-10
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 118%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 146.82 · weakest Chicken (140.94)
Road miles
0
mi across 3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
24%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1532)
Purse competed for
$38K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
288.46 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (2 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.
The comeback
5.2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 5.2 years, then back at MD State BBQ Bash (2024-10-11).
- last seen 2019-08-09
- back 2024-10-11
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.
Smoke Rings Barbecue has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 139 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#4869 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#4900 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before Smoke Rings Barbecue's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#4893 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Level with Smoke Rings Barbecue on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4902 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Smoke Rings Barbecue's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4887 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Smoke Rings Barbecue's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4879 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Smoke Rings Barbecue's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 147.4056 | 128.0456 | 140.94 | top 124% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 158.2972 | 139.9656 | 146.82 | top 91% |
| 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.
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD State BBQ Bash | 2 | 33 | 0 | top 129% | 2025-10-10 |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
6.2 yrs
2019-08-09 → 2025-10-10
Busiest season
2025
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
MD
3 of 3 contests
Contests visited
2
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 146.82 · weakest Chicken (140.94)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Backyard average
288.46
out of 360 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
144
15–179 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
0
3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1532
average field rating faced — tougher than 24% 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
5.2 yrs
2019-08-09 → 2024-10-11
Power rating
1465
peak 1465 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2019
- First tracked contest Maryland State BBQ Bash
- First call Maryland State BBQ Bash
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)158.2972 Maryland State BBQ Bash
- Peak power rating (1491) Maryland State BBQ Bash
- 2024
- Career-best overall score289.5544 MD State BBQ Bash
- 2025
- Most recent contest MD State BBQ Bash
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.1 | MD State BBQ Bash | 2024-10-11 |
| -12.9 | MD State BBQ Bash | 2025-10-10 |
| -9.4 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | 2019-08-09 |
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 | 0% | top 131% | 79.8% | 79.8% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 127% | 80.4% | 80.4% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 97% | — | — |
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 | 38 / 29 (287.3712) | 36 (147.4056) | 39 (139.9656) | — | — |
| 2024-10-11 | MD State BBQ Bash 🏅 Bel Air, MD | 33 / 26 (289.5544) | 33 (147.3600) | 31 (142.1944) | — | — |
| 2019-08-09 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 29 / 30 (286.3428) | 36 (128.0456) | 6 (158.2972) | — | — |