They almost always walk
69%
of contests with a top-10 call
A call in 9 of 13 contests
A top-10 category call in 69% of their 13 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.
BatWing BBQ
BatWing BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 13 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2020 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 8th of 17 at the Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship (2023). They are ranked #3206 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1500
peak 1501 · rated over 13 contests
Contests
13
in the data
First seen
Feb 21, 2020
latest Dec 6, 2024 · 4.8 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
6
46% of 13 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s, still running
Avg finish
top 68%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
330.20 ▲
last 5 Backyard vs avg 327.92 (+2.28)
Walk rate
69%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±6.77
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 165.02 · weakest Pork (156.50)
Road miles
1,329
across 13 mapped stops · furthest 145 mi
Schedule strength
59%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1574)
Purse competed for
$52K
listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 8 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
327.92 / 360
12 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
490.22 / 540
1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #313 (81 pts) | #324 (86 pts) | — | — |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to BatWing BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
113 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,190 of the rated field
- Contests
- 91
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 8%
- Peak
- 1505
1–2 in 4 shared contests (25% to BatWing BBQ)
These two have cooked 4 of the same contests — Willingham's ahead 2–1 — so there's a record behind this pairing and not just a matching number.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,200 of the rated field
- Contests
- 14
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 21%
- Peak
- 1518
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 5 years before BatWing BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,218 of the rated field
- Contests
- 12
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1504
Careers of much the same size, 12 contests to 13, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,216 of the rated field
- Contests
- 15
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1503
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 15 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#3,214 of the rated field
- Contests
- 15
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 27%
- Peak
- 1514
15 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 27% top-10 finishes rather than wins.
⚔ Compare careers#3,217 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 9%
- Peak
- 1507
They were already cooking in 2013, 7 years before BatWing BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIBLIFE | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| LEE LA Q | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| REDBONES BBQ | 11 | 2 | 9 | 18% | ⚔ compare |
| Hickory Hangover | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10% | ⚔ compare |
| PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| The Real Squeal BBQ | 9 | 2 | 7 | 22% | ⚔ compare |
| HELL ON SQUEALS | 8 | 1 | 7 | 13% | ⚔ compare |
| Poppa Pig | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Organizer Portal | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| PERFECTLY BLENDED | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| CONTAGIOUS Q | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Struttin Smokers | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| LEM'S MEAT VARNISH | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 13 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 178.8572 | 155.9544 | 165.02 | top 57% |
| Pork Ribs | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 172 | 156.5488 | 163.35 | top 71% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 156.5028 | 156.5028 | 156.50 | top 56% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 5 | 0 | top 77% |
| Medium (20–39) | 8 | 0 | top 62% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship | 4 | 8 | 0 | top 79% | Dec 6, 2024 |
| Kick It In The Sticks (BACKYARD) | 2 | 9 | 0 | top 55% | Jun 4, 2021 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2020
6 contests
Contests a season
2.6
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AL
11 of 13 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
9
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
258
finished ahead 179 times, behind 261
Longest layoff
1 yrs
Dec 1, 2023 → Dec 6, 2024
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20242 milestones
- Career-best single call (Chicken)178.8572 Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship
- Most recent contest Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship
20212 milestones
- 10th tracked contest Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship
- Peak power rating (1501) Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship
20205 milestones
- First tracked contest Capital City Cook Off
- First call Capital City Cook Off
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score326.2172 Capital City Cook Off
- First overall top-10 Kick It In The Sticks (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best overall score490.2172 Roast-N-Boast
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.6 | Roast-N-Boast | Oct 9, 2020 |
| +6.6 | Kick It In The Sticks (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 5, 2020 |
| +6.5 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship | Dec 1, 2023 |
| +5.4 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship | Dec 2, 2021 |
| +2.5 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship | Dec 6, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.9 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship | Dec 1, 2022 |
| -5.6 | Capital City Cook Off | Feb 21, 2020 |
| -4.3 | Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | Mar 6, 2020 |
| -4.1 | Smoke on the Falls | Sep 18, 2020 |
| -3.3 | Southern Sounds BBQ & Bluefest Backyard Contest | Sep 25, 2020 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 82% | 95.1% | 95.1% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 47% | 91.1% | 91.1% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 138% | 87.6% | 87.6% |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 75% | top 60% | 93.3% | 91.9% |
| 2020 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 67% | top 62% | 91.7% | 90.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 6, 2024 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship 🏅 Demopolis, AL | 9 / 11 (342.2516) | 3 (178.8572) | 16 (163.3944) | — | — |
| Dec 1, 2023 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship 🏅 Demopolis, AL | 8 / 17 (327.8856) | 9 (165.0856) | 10 (162.8000) | — | — |
| Dec 1, 2022 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship 🏅 Demopolis, AL | 18 / 13 (315.3144) | 18 (157.6340) | 17 (157.6804) | — | — |
| Dec 2, 2021 | Christmas on the River State Bar B Q Championship 🏅 Demopolis, AL | 9 / 19 (329.6228) | 9 (166.8228) | 10 (162.8000) | — | — |
| Jun 4, 2021 | Kick It In The Sticks (BACKYARD) Butler, AL | 10 / 14 (335.9428) | 7 (169.6800) | 11 (166.2628) | — | — |
| May 21, 2021 | Twin States Barbecue Showdown (BACKYARD ONLY) Meridian, MS | 13 / 22 (330.2056) | 7 (170.2628) | 20 (159.9428) | — | — |
| Apr 23, 2021 | Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Florence, AL | 18 / 29 (327.9084) | 16 (169.1084) | 21 (158.8000) | — | — |
| Oct 9, 2020 | Roast-N-Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 10 / 36 (490.2172) | 10 (161.7144) | 4 (172) | 20 (156.5028) | — |
| Sep 25, 2020 | Southern Sounds BBQ & Bluefest Backyard Contest 🏅 Semmes, AL | 16 / 23 (323.3600) | 18 (160.5256) | 14 (162.8344) | — | — |
| Sep 18, 2020 | Smoke on the Falls 🏅 Gadsden, AL | 27 / 28 (327.4060) | 8 (170.8572) | 38 (156.5488) | — | — |
| Jun 5, 2020 | Kick It In The Sticks (BACKYARD ONLY) Butler, AL | 9 / 23 (330.2400) | 13 (161.6800) | 6 (168.5600) | — | — |
| Mar 6, 2020 | Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Hartselle, AL | 22 / 32 (318.7428) | 24 (157.0856) | 17 (161.6572) | — | — |
| Feb 21, 2020 | Capital City Cook Off 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 18 / 25 (326.2172) | 19 (155.9544) | 3 (170.2628) | — | — |