The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
Loose Cannon BBQ has finished one call ahead of Red, White & Bacon 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
Red, White & Bacon
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1506
peak 1506 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
9
in the data
First seen
2021-09-10
latest 2025-06-20
Best ToY finish
#297
Backyard 2025
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
4 podiums
Overall top-10s
3
of 9 contests
Avg finish
top 51%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
331.02
last 3 Backyard vs avg 331.02 (-0.00)
Walk rate
56%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
2
best run (overall)
Consistency
±8.11
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 171.02 · weakest Brisket (158.24)
Road miles
113
mi across 8 mapped stops
Schedule strength
22%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1530)
Purse competed for
$13K
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 1 state-championship entries
Master avg
630.10 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
331.02 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 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 (4 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
BBQ MIKE ahead in 100% of their meetings
BBQ MIKE has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
A strong matchup
3–1
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 75% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of HOT EMBERS BBQ in 3 of their 4 shared contests.
The comeback
1.8 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 1.8 years, then back at Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) (2025-06-20).
- last seen 2023-09-15
- back 2025-06-20
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.
Red, White & Bacon has 4 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 111 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.
#3001 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Red, White & Bacon's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2985 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1513
No shared contest yet.
Fewer contests behind them than Red, White & Bacon has cooked, 5 to 9, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-head#2976 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2014, 7 years before Red, White & Bacon's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#2975 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1511
No shared contest yet.
Level with Red, White & Bacon on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2973 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1506
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Red, White & Bacon's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2982 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1508
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Red, White & Bacon's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUBY CREEK BBQ | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 173.1316 | 147.3712 | 162.41 | top 54% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 176.0000 | 153.7028 | 164.11 | top 55% |
| Pork | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 175.4172 | 163.9428 | 171.02 | top 31% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158.2400 | 158.2400 | 158.24 | top 82% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 3 | 0 | top 56% |
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 47% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) | 2 | 4 | 0 | top 41% | 2023-09-15 |
The story so far (19 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3.8 yrs
2021-09-10 → 2025-06-20
Busiest season
2022
3 contests
Contests a season
1.8
across 5 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
IL
9 of 9 contests
Contests visited
6
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
9 entries · 0 wins · 4 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 171.02 · weakest Brisket (158.24)
Walk rate
56%
a top-10 call in 5 of 9 contests
Overall top-10 rate
33%
3 of 9 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight contests
Master average
630.10
out of 720 · 1 contest · 0 GCs
Backyard average
331.02
out of 360 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
104
83–71 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
113
8 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1530
average field rating faced — tougher than 22% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$12,850
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 1 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1.8 yrs
2023-09-15 → 2025-06-20
Power rating
1506
peak 1506 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- First tracked contest Saluting with Smoke-Yorkville (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- 2021
- First call Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- First overall top-10 Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- Career-best overall score671.9088 Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- 2022
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score327.3828 Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (Backyard)
- 2025
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)176.0000 Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1506) Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +7.2 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2025-06-20 |
| +5.9 | Westmont Red White & BBQ Backyard BBQ Cook-Off 2022 (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-05-28 |
| +2.4 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (Backyard) | 2022-06-17 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.9 | Honor-Q | 2021-09-10 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 68% | — | — |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 36% | 95.1% | 95.1% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 59% | — | — |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 42% | 90.9% | 90.4% |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 55% | 87.5% | 87.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-20 | Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 13 / 36 (342.2628) | 23 (166.2628) | 5 (176.0000) | — | — |
| 2023-09-15 | Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 10 / 17 (668.5376) | 5 (173.1316) | 17 (154.8572) | 3 (175.4172) | — |
| 2023-09-15 | Saluting with Smoke Single Meat - Rib Burn (ONE MEAT RIBS) Yorkville, IL | — | — | 17 (165.6800) | — | — |
| 2022-11-04 | Saluting with Smoke Single Meat Rib Burn (ONE MEAT RIBS) Yorkville, IL | — | — | 18 (167.3944) | — | — |
| 2022-06-17 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (Backyard) Morris, IL | 11 / 23 (327.3828) | 14 (162.8456) | 6 (164.5372) | — | — |
| 2022-05-28 | Westmont Red White & BBQ Backyard BBQ Cook-Off 2022 (BACKYARD ONLY) Westmont, IL | 10 / 28 (323.4172) | 12 (161.0972) | 9 (162.3200) | — | — |
| 2021-11-05 | Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 4 / 18 (671.9088) | 3 (168.5600) | 3 (171.9888) | 2 (173.7144) | — |
| 2021-09-10 | Honor-Q 🏅 Yorkville, IL | 15 / 17 (630.1028) | 16 (147.3712) | 14 (160.5488) | 11 (163.9428) | 14 (158.2400) |
| Saluting with Smoke-Yorkville (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 15 / 22 (643.2912) | 16 (157.6340) | 16 (153.7028) | — | — |
Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #297 (120 pts) | #358 (70 pts) | #241 (185 pts) | — | — |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #260 (118 pts) | #240 (138 pts) | — | — |