Giant slayer
63
teams beaten in one weekend
Took the Grand Championship over a 63-team field at Boo-B-Que.
- Oct 18, 2019
Rocket BBQ
Rocket BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 6 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2025. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Boo-B-Que (2019). They are ranked #2132 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “RocketBBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1534
peak 1534 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
6
in the data
First seen
Jun 7, 2019
latest Mar 29, 2025 · 5.8 years on the trail
Grand champs
1
0 reserve · wins it all 17% of the time
Category wins
0
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
3
50% of 6 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 31%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
83%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.21
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 161.57 · weakest Pork Ribs (158.55)
Road miles
1,018
across 6 mapped stops · furthest 927 mi
Schedule strength
63%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1579)
Purse competed for
$39K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
1 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
319.96 / 360
5 Backyard contests · 1 GC
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)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Rocket BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
75 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,134 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1537
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Rocket BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Rocket BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,145 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1533
Careers of much the same size, 6 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,135 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 67%
- Peak
- 1533
Level with Rocket BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,121 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1534
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Rocket BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,128 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1539
They were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before Rocket BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#2,123 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 44%
- Peak
- 1534
Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 9 contests, alongside a 44% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 169.1544 | 145.0856 | 161.57 | top 24% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 162.8916 | 146.7772 | 158.55 | top 43% |
“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) | 4 | 0 | top 38% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 1 | top 2% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 2) | 2 | 9 | 0 | top 38% | Mar 29, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
3 contests
Contests a season
2
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MO
3 of 6 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
6 entries · 0 wins · 3 calls
First title
Oct 18, 2019
Boo-B-Que
Opponents faced
197
finished ahead 181 times, behind 74
Longest layoff
3.5 yrs
Oct 15, 2021 → Mar 28, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20252 milestones
- Peak power rating (1534) Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 2)
- Most recent contest Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 2)
20211 milestone
- Career-best single call (Chicken)169.1544 Maryland State BBQ Bash
20199 milestones
- First tracked contest Separation Colonial BBQ Competition
- First call Separation Colonial BBQ Competition
- First overall top-10 Separation Colonial BBQ Competition
- First overall podium Boo-B-Que
- First Grand Championship Boo-B-Que
- First state championship Boo-B-Que
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score329.0972 Boo-B-Que
- Biggest field won (63 teams) Boo-B-Que
- Career-best overall score329.0972 Boo-B-Que
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +16.9 | Boo-B-Que | Oct 18, 2019 |
| +7.9 | Separation Colonial BBQ Competition | Jun 7, 2019 |
| +3.5 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | Oct 15, 2021 |
| +3.2 | Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 2) | Mar 29, 2025 |
| +2 | Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 1) | Mar 28, 2025 |
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 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 38% | 90.1% | 88.5% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 52% | 90.5% | 90.5% |
| 2019 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 100% | top 12% | 91.4% | 88.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 29, 2025 | Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 2) 🏅 St. Robert, MO | 9 / 25 (324.4912) | 9 (161.6456) | 8 (162.8456) | — | — |
| Mar 29, 2025 | Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Robert, MO | — | — | 14 (159.3600) | — | — |
| Mar 28, 2025 | Kickin' It Route 66 Barbecue Challenge (Day 1) 🏅 St. Robert, MO | 11 / 27 (312.4684) | 9 (165.6912) | 12 (146.7772) | — | — |
| Oct 15, 2021 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 13 / 25 (325.7488) | 5 (169.1544) | 18 (156.5944) | — | — |
| Oct 18, 2019 | Boo-B-Que 🏅 Rehoboth Beach, DE | 1 / 63 (329.0972) | 2 (166.2744) | 5 (162.8228) | — | — |
| Jun 7, 2019 | Separation Colonial BBQ Competition 🏅 New Castle, DE | 8 / 36 (307.9772) | 9 (145.0856) | 3 (162.8916) | — | — |