A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Backdraft BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Backdraft BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
HARLEM SMOKETROTTERS
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1490
peak 1490 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2013-06-14
latest 2015-06-19
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 62%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
623.34
last 3 Master vs avg 623.34 (+0.00)
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±12.19
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 167.06 · weakest Brisket (146.43)
Road miles
0
mi across 3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
15%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1522)
Master avg
623.34 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (3 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 strong matchup
3–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of WILDWOOD SMOKEHOUSE in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Looking over their shoulder
2×
one call behind them
PETA BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.
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.
HARLEM SMOKETROTTERS 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 154 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.
#3627 of the rated field
- Contests
- 12
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1490
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to HARLEM SMOKETROTTERS)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team HARLEM SMOKETROTTERS has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3620 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1507
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3610 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1516
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 10 years after HARLEM SMOKETROTTERS did, first appearing in 2023.
⚔ Head-to-head#3609 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1491
No shared contest yet.
Level with HARLEM SMOKETROTTERS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3618 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1491
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3641 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1490
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 174.8916 | 158.2858 | 167.06 | top 25% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 168.0228 | 131.2344 | 152.51 | top 53% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.0344 | 152.5488 | 157.34 | top 56% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150.7772 | 143.4282 | 146.43 | top 77% |
“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.
The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2 yrs
2013-06-14 → 2015-06-19
Busiest season
2015
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
CO
3 of 3 contests
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 167.06 · weakest Brisket (146.43)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Master average
623.34
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
103
63–108 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
0
3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1522
average field rating faced — tougher than 15% of rated contests
Longest layoff
1 yrs
2014-06-13 → 2015-06-19
Power rating
1490
peak 1490 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest Colorado Barbecue Challenge
- Peak power rating (1497) Colorado Barbecue Challenge
- 2015
- First call 22nd Colorado BBQ Challenge
- Career-best overall score640.5604 22nd Colorado BBQ Challenge
- Career-best single call (Chicken)174.8916 22nd Colorado BBQ Challenge
- Most recent contest 22nd Colorado BBQ Challenge
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +0.5 | 22nd Colorado BBQ Challenge | 2015-06-19 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -6.6 | 21st Colorado BBQ Challenge | 2014-06-13 |
| -3.5 | Colorado Barbecue Challenge | 2013-06-14 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 55% | 89% | 89% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 75% | 85.3% | 85.3% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 56% | 85.5% | 85.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-06-19 | 22nd Colorado BBQ Challenge Frisco, CO | 32 / 58 (640.5604) | 3 (174.8916) | 13 (168.0228) | 45 (152.5488) | 49 (145.0972) |
| 2014-06-13 | 21st Colorado BBQ Challenge Frisco, CO | 41 / 55 (614.0460) | 11 (168.0000) | 54 (131.2344) | 21 (164.0344) | 43 (150.7772) |
| 2013-06-14 | Colorado Barbecue Challenge Frisco, CO | 38 / 68 (615.4280) | 34 (158.2858) | 26 (158.2858) | 36 (155.4282) | 47 (143.4282) |