The comeback
9.1 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 9.1 years, then back at High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) (2026-05-15).
- last seen 2017-04-21
- back 2026-05-15
Dirty South
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1468
peak 1468 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2014-05-24
latest 2026-05-15
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 94%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
25%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 167.13 · weakest Brisket (142.82)
Road miles
2,079
mi across 4 mapped stops · furthest 1046 mi
Schedule strength
48%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1562)
Purse competed for
$6K
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
Master avg
635.37 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
307.92 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs
Master and Backyard overall scores sit on different scales (Master is out of 720, Backyard out of 360), 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.
Storylines (1 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.
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.
Dirty South 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 150 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.
#4755 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1467
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4724 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 9 years after Dirty South did, first appearing in 2023.
⚔ Head-to-head#4734 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
Level with Dirty South on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4774 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1510
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1510 at their best, 43 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4743 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1468
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4771 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1467
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Dirty South'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 | 162.2972 | 147.3828 | 155.61 | top 97% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.4172 | 159.9772 | 163.98 | top 67% |
| Pork | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 172.0228 | 162.2400 | 167.13 | top 54% |
| Brisket | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 143.3600 | 142.2744 | 142.82 | top 99% |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 93% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 94% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 27 | 0 | top 94% | 2026-05-15 |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
12 yrs
2014-05-24 → 2026-05-15
Busiest season
2026
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
TN
3 of 4 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
2
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 167.13 · weakest Brisket (142.82)
Walk rate
25%
a top-10 call in 1 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Master average
635.37
out of 720 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
307.92
out of 360 · 1 contest · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
94
7–101 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
2,079
4 mapped stops · furthest 1,046 mi
Schedule strength
1562
average field rating faced — tougher than 48% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$5,500
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
Longest layoff
9.1 yrs
2017-04-21 → 2026-05-15
Power rating
1468
peak 1468 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2014
- First tracked contest Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff
- First call Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff
- Career-best overall score643.9428 Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff
- Career-best single call (Pork)172.0228 Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff
- Peak power rating (1488) Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff
- 2026
- Most recent contest High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.7 | Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff | 2014-05-24 |
| -10.8 | High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2026-05-15 |
| -10 | High on the Hog Festival | 2017-04-21 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 93% | 85.5% | 85.5% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 87.1% | 87.1% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 93% | 89.4% | 89.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-15 | High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Winchester, TN | 27 / 29 (307.9200) | 29 (147.3828) | 22 (160.5372) | — | — |
| 2017-04-21 | High on the Hog Festival Winchester, TN | 39 / 41 (626.7888) | 38 (162.2972) | 35 (159.9772) | 34 (162.2400) | 40 (142.2744) |
| 2015-06-26 | Smokin' On The Pecos Artesia, NM | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014-05-24 | Lewisburg Rotary Club BBQ CookOff Lewisburg, TN | 38 / 41 (643.9428) | 40 (157.1428) | 16 (171.4172) | 10 (172.0228) | 41 (143.3600) |