Bourbon Barrel Smokers

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#1847

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1545

peak 1545 · rated over 7 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2021-09-24

latest 2025-09-26

Best ToY finish

#683

Master 2025

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 7 contests

Avg finish

top 32%

overall standings

Best overall

694.2740 / 720

Master · The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship

Perfect 180s

Current form

672.86 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 671.86 (+0.99)

Walk rate

57%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.1428

Chicken · The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship

Consistency

±11.24

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 170.44 · weakest Pork (165.40)

Road miles

mi across 7 mapped stops

Schedule strength

21%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1529)

Purse competed for

$57K

listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 7 state-championship entries

Master avg

671.86 / 720

7 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (5 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.

Happy hunting ground

Top 17% average finish here

The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship is their spot: an average finish in the top 17% across 2 visits.

2 visits
best finish 12th
average top 17%

High-water mark

694.2740 career-best overall

96.4% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 694.2740 at The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship — 96.4% of a perfect 720.

Master
2025-06-27

A tough matchup

7–0 behind in the head-to-head

BREW 'N' BAR-B-QUE ahead in 100% of their meetings

BREW 'N' BAR-B-QUE has come out ahead in 7 of their 7 shared contests.

The weak link

−5.0 points behind their best meat

Pork is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.04 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 29%.

Pork avg 165.40
Chicken avg 170.44
0 calls in 7 entries

A strong matchup

6–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Big Fork BBQ in 6 of their 6 shared contests.

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.

70 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Sugar 'n Spice BBQ

#1848 of the rated field

1545 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 14
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 7%
Peak: 1545

1–2 in 3 shared contests (33% to Bourbon Barrel Smokers)

These two have cooked 3 of the same contests — Sugar 'n Spice BBQ ahead 2–1 — so there's a record behind this pairing and not just a matching number.

rated over 12 contests
last seen 2025-06-06

⚔ Head-to-head

TEAM BALLINGER

#1842 of the rated field

1545 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 57%
Peak: 1545

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2020, 5 years before Bourbon Barrel Smokers's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 7 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

Hot Racks and BBQ Stacks

#1853 of the rated field

1545 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 14%
Peak: 1545

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 7 contests
last seen 2015-08-21

⚔ Head-to-head

K-Dubs BBQ

#1862 of the rated field

1544 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 38%
Peak: 1544

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2025-11-21

⚔ Head-to-head

Grillbilly's BBQ

#1852 of the rated field

1545 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 13
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 15%
Peak: 1545

No shared contest yet.

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 13 contests, alongside a 15% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2025-11-05

⚔ Head-to-head

BIG AL AND THE BOYS BARBECUE

#1854 of the rated field

1545 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 38%
Peak: 1545

No shared contest yet.

They were already cooking in 2014, 7 years before Bourbon Barrel Smokers's first contest.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2019-10-25

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
KC Rib doctor	7	6	1	86%	⚔ compare
This is Nice	7	6	1	86%	⚔ compare
Stewey Magoos BBQ	7	4	3	57%	⚔ compare
Velvet Swine	7	4	3	57%	⚔ compare
Hoggy Style BBQ	7	3	4	43%	⚔ compare
POWER I BBQ	7	3	4	43%	⚔ compare
BREW 'N' BAR-B-QUE	7	0	7	0%	⚔ compare
SLAPS BBQ	7	0	7	0%	⚔ compare
Big Fork BBQ	6	6	0	100%	⚔ compare
Shell Rock Smokers	6	6	0	100%	⚔ compare
No Butts About It	6	5	1	83%	⚔ compare
Broken Bottle BBQ	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
3 Blondes and a Bald	6	0	6	0%	⚔ compare
913 BBQ	6	0	6	0%	⚔ compare
MAD MUTT'S BBQ	6	0	6	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	7	2	177.1428	163.3828	170.44	top 32%
Pork Ribs	7	1	176.5600	155.9544	168.63	top 38%
Pork	7	0	172.0456	160.0116	165.40	top 49%
Brisket	7	1	175.4056	159.9656	167.40	top 33%

“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	Avg finish	Last visit
Shawnee Great Grillers	3	21	top 41%	2025-09-26
The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship	2	12	top 17%	2025-06-27
Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship	2	25	top 32%	2022-09-23

The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 4 yrs 2021-09-24 → 2025-09-26

Busiest season 2025 2 contests

Contests a season 1.4 across 5 seasons in the data

Cooks most in KS 7 of 7 contests

Contests visited 3 3 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 7 entries · 0 wins · 2 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 170.44 · weakest Pork (165.40)

Walk rate 57% a top-10 call in 4 of 7 contests

Overall top-10 rate 0% 0 of 7 contests

Master average 671.86 out of 720 · 7 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 324 516–194 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 17 7 mapped stops

Schedule strength 1529 average field rating faced — tougher than 21% of rated contests

Purse competed for $57,150 listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships 0 from 7 state-championship entries

Power rating 1545 peak 1545 · #1847 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2021
Sep 24 First tracked contest Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship (TEAM & JUDGES ARE FULL-WAITLIST ONLY)
Sep 24 First call Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship (TEAM & JUDGES ARE FULL-WAITLIST ONLY)
Sep 24 First overall past 90% of a perfect score667.3716 Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship (TEAM & JUDGES ARE FULL-WAITLIST ONLY)
2025
Jun 27 Career-best overall score694.2740 The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship
Jun 27 Career-best single call (Chicken)177.1428 The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship
Sep 26 Peak power rating (1545) Shawnee Great Grillers
Sep 26 Most recent contest Shawnee Great Grillers

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+13.4	The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship	2025-06-27
+8.2	The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship	2024-06-21
+7.7	Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship	2022-09-23
+6.2	Shawnee Great Grillers	2025-09-26
+5.3	Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship (TEAM & JUDGES ARE FULL-WAITLIST ONLY)	2021-09-24

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)

Team of the Year rank by season

Season by season

Season	Contests	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2025	2	100%	top 19%	96.4%	95.4%
2024	2	0%	top 39%	93%	92%
2023	1	0%	top 41%	92.5%	92.5%
2022	1	100%	top 29%	93.2%	93.2%
2021	1	100%	top 36%	92.7%	92.7%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2025-09-26	Shawnee Great Grillers 🏅 Shawnee, KS	21 / 67 (678.8688)	28 (168.0116)	25 (169.7144)	36 (165.7372)	7 (175.4056)
2025-06-27	The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS	12 / 159 (694.2740)	8 (177.1428)	22 (174.8456)	30 (172.0228)	39 (170.2628)
2024-09-27	Shawnee Great Grillers 🏅 Shawnee, KS	38 / 73 (655.2572)	47 (163.3828)	24 (169.1200)	51 (161.0972)	40 (161.6572)
2024-06-21	The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS	44 / 172 (669.6796)	43 (169.7028)	56 (167.9656)	24 (172.0456)	93 (159.9656)
2023-09-22	Shawnee Great Grillers 🏅 Shawnee, KS	30 / 73 (666.2056)	16 (174.2856)	39 (166.2284)	51 (160.0116)	31 (165.6800)
2022-09-23	Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship 🏅 Shawnee, KS	25 / 87 (671.3944)	49 (164.0000)	8 (176.5600)	52 (162.2972)	20 (168.5372)
2021-09-24	Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship (TEAM & JUDGES ARE FULL-WAITLIST ONLY) 🏅 Shawnee, KS	31 / 86 (667.3716)	8 (176.5600)	74 (155.9544)	50 (164.5944)	18 (170.2628)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2025 ↗	Master	#683 (205 pts)	#743 (215 pts)	#964 (135 pts)	#935 (120 pts)	#680 (225 pts)
2024 ↗	Master	#1182 (60 pts)	#1242 (60 pts)	#1296 (65 pts)	#1231 (60 pts)	#1204 (60 pts)
2023 ↗	Master	#1255 (60 pts)	#1145 (105 pts)	#1432 (60 pts)	#1287 (60 pts)	#1296 (60 pts)