A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE ahead in 100% of their meetings
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
BAD BOB'S QUE
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1508
peak 1513 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2017-06-09
latest 2025-03-22
Best ToY finish
#292
Backyard 2025
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 52%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
649.56
last 3 Master vs avg 649.56 (+0.00)
Walk rate
40%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.20
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 165.91 · weakest Pork (157.46)
Road miles
288
mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 83 mi
Schedule strength
69%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1587)
Purse competed for
$10K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
649.56 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
325.65 / 360
2 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 (3 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 strong matchup
3–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of BIG DOG BBQ VA in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
The comeback
7.4 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 7.4 years, then back at BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) (2025-03-21).
- last seen 2017-10-13
- back 2025-03-21
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.
118 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2901 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1515
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2919 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1516
No shared contest yet.
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2017.
⚔ Head-to-head#2892 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1520
No shared contest yet.
Level with BAD BOB'S QUE on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2906 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1527
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before BAD BOB'S QUE's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2915 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1512
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before BAD BOB'S QUE's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2905 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1508
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 9 years before BAD BOB'S QUE's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.6800 | 158.8228 | 165.91 | top 42% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 170.2972 | 149.0516 | 162.72 | top 39% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.3600 | 155.3600 | 157.46 | top 73% |
| Brisket | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 166.2400 | 158.2628 | 161.48 | 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 state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| VA | 4 | 0 | top 52% |
| MD | 1 | 0 | top 48% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 51% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 52% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard) | 2 | 20 | 0 | top 52% | 2025-03-22 |
The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
7.8 yrs
2017-06-09 → 2025-03-22
Busiest season
2017
3 contests
Contests a season
2.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
VA
4 of 5 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
5 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 165.91 · weakest Pork (157.46)
Walk rate
40%
a top-10 call in 2 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
20%
1 of 5 contests
Master average
649.56
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
325.65
out of 360 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
138
91–130 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
288
5 mapped stops · furthest 83 mi
Schedule strength
1587
average field rating faced — tougher than 69% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$10,000
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 2 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
7.4 yrs
2017-10-13 → 2025-03-21
Power rating
1508
peak 1513 · #2903 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2017
- First tracked contest Beltway BBQ Showdown
- First call Beltway BBQ Showdown
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score653.5428 Beltway BBQ Showdown
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Que & Cruz
- First overall top-10 Que & Cruz
- Career-best overall score657.0056 Que & Cruz
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)170.2972 Que & Cruz
- Peak power rating (1513) Que & Cruz
- 2025
- Most recent contest BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.8 | Que & Cruz | 2017-10-06 |
| +3.3 | Beltway BBQ Showdown | 2017-06-09 |
| +2 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard) | 2025-03-22 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -5 | *Shenandoah Valley BBQ Fest | 2017-10-13 |
| -2.5 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) | 2025-03-21 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 52% | 93.8% | 90.5% |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 67% | top 51% | 91.3% | 90.2% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-22 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | 20 / 43 (337.6688) | 16 (169.6800) | 17 (167.9888) | — | — |
| 2025-03-21 | BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA | 26 / 45 (313.6232) | 20 (164.5716) | 27 (149.0516) | — | — |
| 2017-10-13 | *Shenandoah Valley BBQ Fest Woodstock, VA | 23 / 30 (638.1372) | 20 (158.8228) | 12 (165.6916) | 26 (155.3600) | 18 (158.2628) |
| 2017-10-06 | Que & Cruz Louisa, VA | 8 / 28 (657.0056) | 6 (169.1084) | 1 (170.2972) | 17 (157.6572) | 10 (159.9428) |
| 2017-06-09 | Beltway BBQ Showdown Upper Marlboro, MD | 14 / 29 (653.5428) | 12 (167.3828) | 15 (160.5600) | 21 (159.3600) | 10 (166.2400) |
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 | #292 (128 pts) | #240 (173 pts) | #289 (143 pts) | — | — |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #1022 (322 pts) | #1020 (367 pts) | #797 (502 pts) | #1348 (222 pts) | #1011 (347 pts) |