Heritage Q

Heritage Q is a competition barbecue team with 21 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2017 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 7th of 16 at the Dowagiac BBQ Competition and Summer Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) (2023). They are ranked #6082 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#6,082

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1429

peak 1429 · rated over 19 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Jun 23, 2017

latest Aug 1, 2025 · 8.1 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#875

Master 2025 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

2 podiums

Overall top-10s

5% of 21 contests

Avg finish

top 75%

overall standings

Best overall

666.7544 / 720

Master · Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival

Perfect 180s

Current form

647.48 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 640.22 (+7.26)

Walk rate

29%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

174.2628

Pork Ribs · All American BBQ Throwdown (ONE MEAT RIBS)

Consistency

±19.99

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 162.55 · weakest Pork (157.53)

Road miles

2,176

across 21 mapped stops · furthest 160 mi

Schedule strength

55%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1570)

Purse competed for

$90K

listed at 15 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 14 state-championship entries

Master avg

640.22 / 720

18 Master contests · 0 GCs

Backyard avg

327.42 / 360

1 Backyard contest · 0 GCs

These overall scores sit on different scales (Master 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 (10 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

High-water mark

666.7544 career-best overall

92.6% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 666.7544 at Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival — 92.6% of a perfect 720.

Master
Sep 13, 2019

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

LICENSE TO GRILL has finished one call ahead of Heritage Q 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2021 their best year

2021 was the year it came together: 3 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 59%.

3 contests
0 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 59%

A tough matchup

18–0 behind in the head-to-head

iBQ'n ahead in 100% of their meetings

iBQ'n has come out ahead in 18 of their 18 shared contests.

The weak link

−5.0 points behind their best meat

Pork is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.01 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 6% of the time against 19%.

Pork avg 157.53
Pork Ribs avg 162.55
1 call in 18 entries

A strong matchup

5–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Black Ace Barbeque in 5 of their 5 shared contests.

Pork Ribs nemesis

17 of 20 shared pork ribs entries lost

KEVLAR BBQ ahead 85% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, KEVLAR BBQ has out-cooked them in 17 of 20 shared pork ribs entries.

Show 3 more storylines

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

RAMSHACKLE BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

A September team

Top 60% average finish in September

Something about September: average finish in the top 60% across 3 contests, versus top 75% the rest of the year.

3 September contests
top 75% the rest of the year

A standing appointment

6 years running at one contest

They've cooked All American BBQ Throwdown every year from 2020 to 2025 — the contest they never miss.

6 visits in all
best finish 13th

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 ↗	Master	#875 (120 pts)	#910 (135 pts)	#726 (249 pts)	#935 (120 pts)	#858 (145 pts)
2024 ↗	Master	#878 (120 pts)	#977 (120 pts)	#639 (321 pts)	#938 (120 pts)	#922 (120 pts)
2023 ↗	Backyard	—	#233 (156 pts)	#257 (136 pts)	—	—
2023 ↗	Master	#1255 (60 pts)	#1319 (60 pts)	#1225 (110 pts)	#1287 (60 pts)	#1296 (60 pts)
2022 ↗	Master	#1309 (60 pts)	#1306 (70 pts)	#1404 (60 pts)	#1348 (60 pts)	#1333 (60 pts)
2019 ↗	Master	#1100 (225 pts)	#1208 (205 pts)	#872 (355 pts)	#993 (290 pts)	#806 (395 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Heritage Q, each with one reason worth a look.

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

Fat Daddy BBQ

#6,087 of the rated field

1429 power rating

Contests: 12
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1429

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 12 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 12 contests
last seen Oct 21, 2016

⚔ Compare careers

Darling Nikki's BBQ

#6,089 of the rated field

1429 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 9%
Peak: 1508

Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Heritage Q's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 11 contests

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On Q BBQ

#6,081 of the rated field

1429 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1429

Fewer contests behind them than Heritage Q has cooked, 11 to 21, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.

rated over 11 contests
last seen Jun 3, 2022

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Fatty Shack

#6,083 of the rated field

1429 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1429

Level with Heritage Q on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Nov 5, 2025

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BAD BOYS BBQ

#6,086 of the rated field

1429 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1429

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 10 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Jun 25, 2021

⚔ Compare careers

FLYING PINK PIG BBQ

#6,085 of the rated field

1429 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1429

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 Apr 30, 2016

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
iBQ'n	18	0	18	0%	⚔ compare
KEVLAR BBQ	18	0	18	0%	⚔ compare
THE REAL SMOKIN ACES	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
Q-JITSU	14	2	12	14%	⚔ compare
Mac Attack BBQ	14	1	13	7%	⚔ compare
BAD HABIT BBQ	14	0	14	0%	⚔ compare
PapaDads BBQ	13	2	11	15%	⚔ compare
FIREHOUSE SMOKE	13	2	11	15%	⚔ compare
BAD WOLF BBQ	13	1	12	8%	⚔ compare
BooyaQ	13	0	13	0%	⚔ compare
BO B Q BBQ	12	1	11	8%	⚔ compare
PB&J's BBQ	12	1	11	8%	⚔ compare
B&R SMOKE	12	0	12	0%	⚔ compare
LICENSE TO GRILL	11	7	4	64%	⚔ compare
Shiggin aint easy	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	19	1	0	173.1428	143.4056	160.52	top 73%
Pork Ribs	21	4	0	174.2628	138.8228	162.55	top 56%
Pork	18	1	0	169.1200	147.9544	157.53	top 77%
Brisket	18	2	2	174.2628	146.2628	160.88	top 63%

“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	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	1	top 44%
Medium (20–39)	8	top 70%
Large (40+)	10	top 82%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
MI	17	0	top 73%
IN	2	0	top 88%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
All American BBQ Throwdown	6	13	0	top 72%	Aug 1, 2025
GLBBQA Spring Fling	2	48	0	top 87%	Apr 18, 2025

More numbers

Busiest season 2025 3 contests

Contests a season 2.3 across 9 seasons in the data

Most contests held in MI 19 of 21 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 13 2 of them more than once

Most-entered meat Pork Ribs 21 entries · 0 wins · 4 calls

Opponents faced 301 finished ahead 173 times, behind 604

Longest layoff 1.1 yrs Sep 1, 2017 → Oct 12, 2018

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

20251 milestone

Aug 1 Most recent contest All American BBQ Throwdown

20241 milestone

Aug 2 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)174.2628 All American BBQ Throwdown (ONE MEAT RIBS)

20231 milestone

Jul 15 First overall top-10 Dowagiac BBQ Competition and Summer Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)

20211 milestone

May 14 10th tracked contest Rockin' BBQ - Day 1

20193 milestones

Jun 21 First call 11th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-Off
Sep 13 First overall past 90% of a perfect score666.7544 Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival
Sep 13 Career-best overall score666.7544 Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival

20172 milestones

Jun 23 First tracked contest 9th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-off
Jun 23 Peak power rating (1489) 9th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-off

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+8.2	All American BBQ Throwdown	Aug 6, 2021
+5.5	Dowagiac BBQ Competition and Summer Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	Jul 15, 2023
+2.3	Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival	Sep 13, 2019
+1.1	All American BBQ Throwdown	Aug 5, 2022

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11	9th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-off	Jun 23, 2017
-10.6	BBQ & BREWS	Jul 21, 2017
-8.3	Rockin BBQ	May 29, 2020
-7.4	11th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-Off	Jun 21, 2019
-7.3	GLBBQA Spring Fling	Apr 19, 2024

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	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2025	3	0	0%	top 87%	90.6%	89.9%
2024	3	0	33%	top 88%	90%	89.4%
2023	2	1	50%	top 61%	91%	91%
2022	1	0	0%	top 64%	91.4%	91.4%
2021	3	0	67%	top 59%	92.5%	91.5%
2020	2	0	0%	top 86%	89.7%	88.1%
2019	3	0	67%	top 68%	92.6%	89.3%
2018	1	0	0%	top 66%	88.2%	88.2%
2017	3	0	0%	top 89%	87%	84.3%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Aug 1, 2025	All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	38 / 43 (642.1944)	37 (159.3828)	39 (161.6916)	43 (153.1200)	20 (168)
Aug 1, 2025	All American BBQ Throwdown (ONE MEAT RIBS) Westland, MI	—	—	17 (169.1084)	—	—
Apr 18, 2025	GLBBQA Spring Fling 🏅 Charlotte, MI	48 / 56 (652.4800)	22 (173.1428)	18 (170.8800)	56 (147.9544)	46 (160.5028)
Aug 2, 2024	All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	35 / 40 (639.3832)	38 (158.2744)	31 (161.6800)	36 (158.8572)	30 (160.5716)
Aug 2, 2024	All American BBQ Throwdown (ONE MEAT RIBS) Westland, MI	—	—	4 (174.2628)	—	—
Apr 19, 2024	GLBBQA Spring Fling 🏅 Charlotte, MI	55 / 62 (647.9312)	35 (169.1428)	60 (146.8000)	39 (167.4400)	43 (164.5484)
Aug 4, 2023	All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	34 / 44 (655.3944)	38 (163.3944)	15 (169.7256)	33 (161.7028)	32 (160.5716)
Jul 15, 2023	Dowagiac BBQ Competition and Summer Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Dowagiac, MI	7 / 16 (327.4172)	6 (165.1200)	8 (162.2972)	—	—
Aug 5, 2022	All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	32 / 50 (658.2172)	23 (169.1084)	39 (159.4288)	29 (165.7028)	29 (163.9772)
Sep 10, 2021	Silver Lake Sand Dunes BBQ Competition 🏅 Mears, MI	14 / 25 (657.6688)	13 (169.1200)	6 (169.7028)	20 (157.0972)	17 (161.7488)
Aug 6, 2021	All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	13 / 32 (665.7600)	17 (168.5600)	21 (160.5600)	21 (163.4400)	3 (173.2000)
May 14, 2021	Rockin' BBQ - Day 1 🏅 Warsaw, IN	33 / 41 (651.9084)	37 (155.3828)	17 (167.4400)	21 (167.9656)	37 (161.1200)
Aug 7, 2020	All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	32 / 42 (645.6000)	40 (155.3828)	16 (166.2856)	34 (155.9544)	17 (167.9772)
May 29, 2020	Rockin BBQ 🏅 Warsaw, IN	63 / 66 (622.7196)	65 (151.9656)	60 (154.8228)	63 (151.9772)	40 (163.9540)
Sep 13, 2019	Silver Lake Sand Dunes Apple & BBQ Festival 🏅 Mears, MI	15 / 35 (666.7544)	31 (153.1088)	13 (170.2628)	6 (169.1200)	2 (174.2628)
Aug 2, 2019	Westland Area Jaycees All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI	30 / 40 (631.3028)	36 (151.4056)	20 (165.1200)	37 (152.5372)	21 (162.2400)
Jun 21, 2019	11th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-Off 🏅 Auburn Hills, MI	26 / 30 (630.2288)	19 (163.4400)	8 (168.5716)	29 (148.5256)	26 (149.6916)
Oct 12, 2018	Smoke & Ale Fall Festival Chelsea, MI	25 / 38 (634.8572)	13 (168.0228)	14 (163.9772)	28 (156.5600)	34 (146.2972)
Sep 1, 2017	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Traverse City, MI	22 / 27 (626.2056)	21 (156.4912)	20 (156.0344)	26 (149.1200)	13 (164.5600)
Jul 21, 2017	BBQ & BREWS Birch Run, MI	34 / 37 (609.0860)	36 (155.9428)	27 (156.0116)	33 (150.8228)	29 (146.3088)
Jun 23, 2017	9th Annual Auburn Hills Barbecue Cook-off Auburn Hills, MI	30 / 32 (586.1824)	32 (143.4056)	30 (138.8228)	22 (157.6912)	30 (146.2628)

Heritage Q

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Backyard avg

Storylines (10 found in their record)

High-water mark

The one to beat

Their season

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Pork Ribs nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

A September team

A standing appointment

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

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

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

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

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

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

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

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

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