High-water mark
342.8000
career-best overall
95.2% of a perfect 360
Their best day on record: 342.8000 at Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) — 95.2% of a perfect 360.
- Backyard
- Jul 25, 2025
Real Men Smoke
Real Men Smoke is a competition barbecue team with 4 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 8th of 30 at the Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) (2025). They finished #175 in the 2025 Backyard Series Team of the Year standings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1517
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 4
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
Jul 28, 2023
latest Jul 25, 2025 · 2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
50% of 4 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s, still running
Avg finish
top 45%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
75%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±9.96
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 166.39 · weakest Pork Ribs (165.83)
Road miles
104
across 4 mapped stops · furthest 39 mi
Schedule strength
57%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1573)
Purse competed for
$35K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
332.22 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Backyard | #312 (65 pts) | #320 (60 pts) | #295 (95 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #175 (275 pts) | #168 (305 pts) | #222 (210 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #373 (60 pts) | #377 (60 pts) | #379 (60 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #315 (78 pts) | #237 (153 pts) | — | — |
Overall rank by season
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 174.2628 | 155.9312 | 166.39 | top 48% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.2972 | 159.9660 | 165.83 | top 52% |
“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 53% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 22% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) | 2 | 8 | 0 | top 62% | Jul 25, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
PA
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
3
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
144
finished ahead 145 times, behind 118
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20255 milestones
- First overall top-10 Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1)
- Career-best overall score342.8000 Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)174.2628 Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1)
- Peak power rating (1517) Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1)
- Most recent contest Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1)
20233 milestones
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Rail (Day 1)
- First call Smoke on the Rail (Day 1)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score335.9772 Smoke on the Rail (Day 1)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.5 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) | Jul 25, 2025 |
| +11.1 | Smoke on the Rail (Day 1) | Jul 28, 2023 |
| +5.9 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1) | May 16, 2025 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.7 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) | Jul 26, 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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 100% | top 31% | 95.2% | 94% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 87.7% | 87.7% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 22% | 93.3% | 93.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25, 2025 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) 🏅 New Freedom, PA | 8 / 30 (342.8000) | 7 (174.2628) | 16 (168.5372) | — | — |
| May 16, 2025 | Twin Valley Fire and Smoke (Day 1) 🏅 Morgantown, PA | 10 / 28 (334.2172) | 8 (169.6800) | 13 (164.5372) | — | — |
| Jul 26, 2024 | Smoke on the Rail BBQ Festival (Day 1) 🏅 New Freedom, PA | 34 / 35 (315.8972) | 34 (155.9312) | 33 (159.9660) | — | — |
| Jul 28, 2023 | Smoke on the Rail (Day 1) 🏅 New Freedom, PA | 11 / 51 (335.9772) | 21 (165.6800) | 8 (170.2972) | — | — |