Perfect scores on the board
1
perfect 180s
1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in brisket.
- Brisket ×1
Hickory Nuts
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1510
peak 1521 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2022-09-29
latest 2024-10-30
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 49%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
660.91
last 3 Master vs avg 660.91 (+0.00)
Walk rate
25%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±29.93
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 170.64 · weakest Pork (161.14)
Road miles
29
mi across 4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
73%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1592)
Purse competed for
$144K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
660.91 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (4 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.
High-water mark
685.1316
career-best overall
95.2% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 685.1316 at American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest — 95.2% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2023-09-27
A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
AMERICAN FIRE BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
AMERICAN FIRE BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
A strong matchup
3–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of DUSTY ROADS BBQ in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
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.
Hickory Nuts has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 95 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#2813 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1535
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 7 contests to 4.
⚔ Head-to-head#2829 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1510
No shared contest yet.
Level with Hickory Nuts on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2816 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1510
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2806 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1518
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 10 years before Hickory Nuts's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2821 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1520
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2016, 6 years before Hickory Nuts's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#2814 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 67%
- Peak
- 1527
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 5 years before Hickory Nuts'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 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174.8800 | 150.2744 | 164.38 | top 54% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.4516 | 153.0856 | 164.74 | top 56% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.4516 | 153.1200 | 161.14 | top 71% |
| Brisket | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 180.0000 🔥 | 162.2628 | 170.64 | top 34% |
“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.
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2 | 117 | 0 | top 27% | 2023-09-27 |
The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2.1 yrs
2022-09-29 → 2024-10-30
Busiest season
2022
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
KS
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
2
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Brisket
averages 170.64 · weakest Pork (161.14)
Walk rate
25%
a top-10 call in 1 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Master average
660.91
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Perfect 180s
1
every judge at the table handing back a nine
Opponents faced
791
750–682 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
29
4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1592
average field rating faced — tougher than 73% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$144,365
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 3 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1.1 yrs
2023-09-27 → 2024-10-30
Power rating
1510
peak 1521 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2022
- First tracked contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score678.8572 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST
- 2023
- First call American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- First perfect 180 (Brisket) American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Career-best overall score685.1316 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Peak power rating (1521) American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- 2024
- Most recent contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.6 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2023-09-27 |
| +9.8 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST | 2022-09-29 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.1 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2024-10-30 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 93% | 85.9% | 85.9% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 24% | 95.2% | 95.2% |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 31% | 94.3% | 94.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-30 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 413 / 444 (618.7428) | 424 (150.2744) | 416 (153.0856) | 413 (153.1200) | 320 (162.2628) |
| 2023-09-27 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 117 / 487 (685.1316) | 258 (168.0000) | 230 (169.6800) | 255 (167.4516) | 3 (180.0000) |
| 2022-10-01 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - SIDES Kansas City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022-09-29 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 155 / 505 (678.8572) | 66 (174.8800) | 137 (171.4516) | 345 (162.8572) | 154 (169.6684) |