The heartbreaker
3.4400
points from the title
Came within 3.4400 points of the Grand Championship at Hoosier BBQ Classic (Jun 6, 2025).
Virtual Smoke
Virtual Smoke is a competition barbecue team with 6 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 30 at the Hoosier BBQ Classic (2025), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1525
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 2
Contests
6
in the data
First seen
Oct 13, 2023
latest Jun 6, 2025 · 1.6 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
2
33% of 6 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s, still running
Avg finish
top 21%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 176.57 · weakest Pork Ribs (168.25)
Road miles
917
across 6 mapped stops · furthest 423 mi
Purse competed for
$36K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Virtual Smoke, each with one reason worth a look.
Virtual Smoke has 2 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 76 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#2,346 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1525
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,335 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1525
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Virtual Smoke's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,334 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1526
They were already cooking in 2013, 10 years before Virtual Smoke's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#2,333 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1526
Level with Virtual Smoke on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,355 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1525
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Virtual Smoke's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,343 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1530
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 9 years before Virtual Smoke's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 176 | 176 | top 24% |
| Pork Ribs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.1200 | 167.3828 | 168.25 | top 64% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.7028 | 169.7028 | 169.70 | top 48% |
| Brisket | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 176.5716 | 176.5716 | 176.57 | top 8% |
“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
More numbers
Busiest season
2023
3 contests
Contests a season
2
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IN
5 of 6 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
2
a different one every time
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
2 entries · 0 wins · 1 call
Opponents faced
56
finished ahead 46 times, behind 10
Longest layoff
1.6 yrs
Oct 13, 2023 → Jun 6, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20253 milestones
- First overall podium Hoosier BBQ Classic
- First Reserve Championship Hoosier BBQ Classic
- Most recent contest Hoosier BBQ Classic
20235 milestones
- First call Hoosier BBQ Classic (ONE MEAT RIBS)
- First overall top-10 Waxhaw Grill'n & Chill'n BBQ Cook Off
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score689.6572 Waxhaw Grill'n & Chill'n BBQ Cook Off
- Career-best overall score689.6572 Waxhaw Grill'n & Chill'n BBQ Cook Off
- Career-best single call (Brisket)176.5716 Waxhaw Grill'n & Chill'n BBQ Cook Off
20221 milestone
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Water
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 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% | top 7% | 98.1% | 98.1% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 36% | 95.8% | 95.8% |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 6, 2025 | Hoosier BBQ Classic 🏅 Franklin, IN | 2 / 30 (176.5600) | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 13, 2023 | Waxhaw Grill'n & Chill'n BBQ Cook Off 🏅 Waxhaw, NC | 9 / 25 (689.6572) | 6 (176) | 17 (167.3828) | 12 (169.7028) | 2 (176.5716) |
| Jun 9, 2023 | Hoosier BBQ Classic #1 🏅 Franklin, IN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jun 9, 2023 | Hoosier BBQ Classic (ONE MEAT RIBS) Franklin, IN | — | — | 9 (169.1200) | — | — |
| Jun 17, 2022 | Hoosier BBQ Classic Day 1 🏅 Franklin, IN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 29, 2022 | Smoke on the Water 🏅 Liberty, IN | — | — | — | — | — |