A tough matchup
7–0
behind in the head-to-head
LEE LA Q ahead in 100% of their meetings
LEE LA Q has come out ahead in 7 of their 7 shared contests.
Low N' Slow Locomotives
Low N' Slow Locomotives is a competition barbecue team with 8 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 9th of 22 at the Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD) (2025). They are ranked #5158 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1459
peak 1459 · rated over 7 contests
Contests
8
in the data
First seen
May 5, 2022
latest Sep 20, 2025 · 3.4 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
13% of 8 contests
Avg finish
top 80%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
311.70 ▲
last 5 Backyard vs avg 299.39 (+12.30)
Walk rate
13%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±30.86
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 165.96 · weakest Brisket (143.94)
Road miles
320
across 8 mapped stops · furthest 53 mi
Schedule strength
72%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1591)
Purse competed for
$181K
listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
299.39 / 360
6 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
467.26 / 540
1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), 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.
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 ↗ | Backyard | #187 (247 pts) | #227 (187 pts) | #182 (287 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | — | — | — | — | #1133 (74 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #373 (60 pts) | #377 (60 pts) | #379 (60 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #324 (70 pts) | #344 (60 pts) | — | — |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #257 (120 pts) | #257 (120 pts) | — | — |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Low N' Slow Locomotives, each with one reason worth a look.
125 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#5,142 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 71%
- Peak
- 1505
They've been 1505 at their best, 45 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Compare careers#5,155 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#5,143 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1460
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Low N' Slow Locomotives's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#5,170 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1459
They were already cooking in 2013, 9 years before Low N' Slow Locomotives's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#5,163 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1459
Level with Low N' Slow Locomotives on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#5,151 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1460
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAMA BOYS BBQ | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| NORALA BBQ TEAM | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| LEE LA Q | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Bentley Que | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| LENOX & SON BBQ COMPANY | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Pork Life | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| RIBLIFE | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Dixie Pigs & Chick's BBQ Team | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Say My Name BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| HELL ON SQUEALS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| Hickory Hangover | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Dogpatch Q | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.8228 | 91.0856 | 145.95 | top 79% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.8572 | 143.9772 | 154.82 | top 75% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 173.7028 | 158.2172 | 165.96 | top 64% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 143.9428 | 143.9428 | 143.94 | top 100% |
“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
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 78% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 81% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poosa Q | 4 | 34 | 0 | top 81% | Jun 20, 2025 |
| Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD) | 3 | 9 | 0 | top 78% | Sep 20, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
4 contests
Contests a season
2
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AL
8 of 8 contests
Contests visited
2
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
277
finished ahead 72 times, behind 453
Longest layoff
1.1 yrs
Aug 12, 2022 → Oct 5, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20255 milestones
- First call Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD)
- First overall top-10 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score338.2628 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD)
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)174.8572 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD)
- Most recent contest Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD)
20223 milestones
- First tracked contest Poosa Q
- Peak power rating (1493) Poosa Q
- Career-best overall score467.2576 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.7 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD) | Sep 20, 2025 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.8 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 12, 2022 |
| -10.5 | Poosa Q | Oct 4, 2024 |
| -9.8 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) | Sep 19, 2025 |
| -6.6 | Poosa Q | May 5, 2022 |
| -6.6 | Poosa Q | Oct 5, 2023 |
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 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25% | top 74% | 94% | 87.2% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 83.9% | 83.9% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 77% | 87.4% | 87.4% |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 81% | 86.5% | 76.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 2025 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD) Glencoe, AL | 9 / 22 (338.2628) | 20 (163.4056) | 5 (174.8572) | — | — |
| Sep 19, 2025 | The Great Alabama BBQ Cook-off Qualifier "Don't Burn the Brisket" (ONE MEAT BRISKET) Glencoe, AL | — | — | — | — | 19 (143.9428) |
| Sep 19, 2025 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Glencoe, AL | 30 / 30 (292.4800) | 30 (138.2400) | 28 (154.2400) | 11 (173.7028) | — |
| Jun 20, 2025 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 34 / 42 (310.7320) | 34 (146.7544) | 28 (163.9776) | — | — |
| Oct 4, 2024 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 57 / 59 (302.2056) | 55 (151.4056) | 56 (150.8000) | — | — |
| Oct 5, 2023 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 56 / 73 (314.8000) | 23 (170.8228) | 60 (143.9772) | — | — |
| Aug 12, 2022 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Glencoe, AL | 33 / 35 (467.2576) | 32 (159.9544) | 34 (149.0860) | 32 (158.2172) | — |
| May 5, 2022 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 49 / 72 (237.8856) | 49 (91.0856) | 49 (146.8000) | — | — |