The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
AM & PM SMOKERS has finished one call ahead of Circle Z BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
Circle Z BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1470
peak 1470 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2023-09-15
latest 2025-09-19
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 92%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
621.95
last 3 Master vs avg 621.95 (+0.00)
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±13.28
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 159.86 · weakest Brisket (148.12)
Road miles
2
mi across 3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
55%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1570)
Purse competed for
$18K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
621.95 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
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.
A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Damn Fine Beef & Swine ahead in 100% of their meetings
Damn Fine Beef & Swine has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 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.
Circle Z BBQ 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 144 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.
#4612 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1501
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1501 at their best, 31 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4616 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1470
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#4615 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1470
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Circle Z BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4610 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1470
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2017, 6 years before Circle Z BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#4617 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1470
No shared contest yet.
Level with Circle Z BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4620 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1470
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Circle Z BBQ'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 | 165.0856 | 151.3944 | 156.73 | top 89% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2744 | 153.6456 | 158.06 | top 82% |
| Pork | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 164.0228 | 150.8000 | 159.86 | top 65% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 157.6456 | 136.5144 | 148.12 | top 94% |
“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 (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2 yrs
2023-09-15 → 2025-09-19
Busiest season
2025
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
MO
3 of 3 contests
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork
5 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 159.86 · weakest Brisket (148.12)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Master average
621.95
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
59
7–78 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
2
3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1570
average field rating faced — tougher than 55% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$17,850
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 3 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1 yrs
2023-09-15 → 2024-09-20
Power rating
1470
peak 1470 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2023
- First tracked contest 35th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out
- First call 35th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out
- Career-best overall score638.6740 35th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out
- Peak power rating (1493) 35th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out
- 2024
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)166.2744 36th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out
- 2025
- Most recent contest 37th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.4 | 37th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out | 2025-09-19 |
| -10.1 | 36th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out | 2024-09-20 |
| -7.5 | 35th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out | 2023-09-15 |
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 100% | 84.2% | 84.2% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 91% | 86.2% | 86.2% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 85% | 88.7% | 88.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-19 | 37th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out 🏅 Kearney, MO | 30 / 30 (606.1948) | 30 (151.3944) | 29 (154.2632) | 21 (164.0228) | 30 (136.5144) |
| 2024-09-20 | 36th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out 🏅 Kearney, MO | 29 / 32 (620.9828) | 29 (153.7028) | 19 (166.2744) | 18 (159.3600) | 29 (150.2056) |
| 2023-09-15 | 35th Annual Jesse James Barbeque Cook Out 🏅 Kearney, MO | 22 / 26 (638.6740) | 20 (165.0856) | 23 (153.6456) | 8 (162.8000) | 24 (157.6456) |