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.
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
95.2% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 685.7256 at The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship — 95.2% of a perfect 720.
913 BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
913 BBQ has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.
Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 14.41 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 25%.
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of Jonesy's Smoke Rangers in 5 of their 5 shared contests.
Damn Fine Beef & Swine ahead 100% of the time
Even in their strongest meat, Damn Fine Beef & Swine has out-cooked them in 5 of 5 shared chicken entries.
Their overall swings ±17.36% of a perfect score around its own average — when it lands they're dangerous, and when it doesn't the weekend is gone by lunch.
Something about June: average finish in the top 61% across 5 contests, versus top 70% the rest of the year.
They've cooked The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship every year from 2023 to 2026 — the contest they never miss.
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.
144 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Grilluminati has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-headThis is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Grilluminati's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headCareers of much the same size, 8 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with Grilluminati on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headThey were already cooking in 2016, 6 years before Grilluminati's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B&D BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Jonesy's Smoke Rangers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| SLOW EXPECTATIONS BBQ | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| Too Hot to Handle | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| All Fired Up | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| J Adams Rib | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| KC Rib doctor | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Meaty Bone BBQ | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| No Clue BBQ | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Slow Cookin' Cats | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Smokin Engineers | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Hogs Breath BBQ | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| Men of Erin | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| Most Wanted BBQ | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| Nice Rack | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 176.0000 | 158.2400 | 167.19 | top 48% |
| Pork Ribs | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.4400 | 157.6916 | 164.62 | top 56% |
| Pork | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.8800 | 142.8116 | 157.76 | top 76% |
| Brisket | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163.4056 | 142.2628 | 152.78 | top 80% |
“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.
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| KS | 5 | 0 | top 61% |
| IA | 3 | 0 | top 85% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 62% |
| Large (40+) | 7 | 0 | top 72% |
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship | 4 | 13 | 0 | top 61% | 2026-06-26 |
| Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2 | 41 | 0 | top 97% | 2025-04-04 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +14.5 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship | 2023-06-23 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.9 | Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2025-04-04 |
| -10.5 | Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2024-03-29 |
| -10.4 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship | 2025-06-27 |
| -8.7 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship | 2024-06-21 |
| -3.7 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship | 2026-06-26 |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 69% | 88.9% | 88.9% |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 87% | 87% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 88.2% | 87.3% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 8% | 95.2% | 95.2% |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 62% | 140.8% | 115% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-26 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 109 / 157 (640.4344) | 53 (167.9656) | 84 (164.5716) | 134 (155.3600) | 125 (152.5372) |
| 2025-06-27 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 139 / 159 (626.7316) | 37 (171.4056) | 78 (166.2744) | 158 (142.8116) | 145 (146.2400) |
| 2025-04-04 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 47 / 49 (626.7200) | 43 (160.5484) | 38 (161.1316) | 48 (149.6800) | 46 (155.3600) |
| 2024-06-21 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 138 / 172 (622.1256) | 121 (158.2400) | 50 (168.5256) | 155 (153.0972) | 162 (142.2628) |
| 2024-03-29 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 41 / 42 (634.6972) | 25 (170.2512) | 37 (157.6916) | 41 (156.5144) | 40 (150.2400) |
| 2023-06-23 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 13 / 167 (685.7256) | 7 (176.0000) | 29 (171.4400) | 11 (174.8800) | 71 (163.4056) |
| 2022-09-09 | Bar-B-QC (Backyard) Davenport, IA | 8 / 13 (506.7884) | 7 (170.2628) | 12 (161.6684) | 6 (174.8572) | — |
| 2022-06-24 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 102 / 164 (642.8000) | 81 (162.8572) | 63 (165.6912) | 135 (154.8572) | 100 (159.3944) |
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #927 (60 pts) | #1010 (60 pts) | #1051 (60 pts) | #970 (60 pts) | #950 (60 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #875 (120 pts) | #960 (120 pts) | #1020 (120 pts) | #935 (120 pts) | #920 (120 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #878 (120 pts) | #977 (120 pts) | #1021 (120 pts) | #938 (120 pts) | #922 (120 pts) |