The heartbreaker
1.7260
points from the title
Came within 1.7260 points of the Grand Championship at Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) (2017-07-28).
TAIL-GATER HATER
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1519
peak 1519 · rated over 1 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2017-07-28
latest 2024-10-17
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
1
3 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 31%
overall standings
Best overall
694.2168 / 720
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
100%
contests with a top-10 call
Best single call
177.1428
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 174.46 · weakest Brisket (171.78)
Road miles
244
mi across 3 mapped stops · furthest 244 mi
Purse competed for
$76K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
Master avg
694.22 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Storylines (5 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
694.2168
career-best overall
96.4% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 694.2168 at Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) — 96.4% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2017-07-28
The comeback
6.2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 6.2 years, then back at Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION) (2023-10-20).
- last seen 2017-07-28
- back 2023-10-20
Announced themselves early
2nd
at their very first contest
Finished 2 of 25 at their very first tracked contest, Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) (2017-07-28).
- 2017-07-28
- 25-team field
Looking over their shoulder
2×
one call behind them
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.
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.
TAIL-GATER HATER has 1 rated contest — 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 81 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.
#2498 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1523
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#2518 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 5 years after TAIL-GATER HATER did, first appearing in 2022.
⚔ Head-to-head#2514 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Level with TAIL-GATER HATER on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2507 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 100%
- Peak
- 1522
No shared contest yet.
5 straight overall top-10s says this rating is a moving target.
⚔ Head-to-head#2500 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1520
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 6 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#2520 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 6 years before TAIL-GATER HATER'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 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 176.5600 | 165.6684 | 172.93 | top 45% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 176.0000 | 171.9772 | 174.46 | top 29% |
| Pork | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 175.4056 | 170.8344 | 173.12 | top 40% |
| Brisket | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 177.1428 | 163.9428 | 171.78 | 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.
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION) | 2 | 13 | 0 | top 43% | 2024-10-17 |
The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
7.2 yrs
2017-07-28 → 2024-10-17
Busiest season
2024
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
GA
2 of 3 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
2
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 2 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 174.46 · weakest Brisket (171.78)
Walk rate
100%
a top-10 call in 3 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
33%
1 of 3 contests
Master average
694.22
out of 720 · 1 contest · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
89
70–40 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
244
3 mapped stops · furthest 244 mi
Purse competed for
$76,000
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
Longest layoff
6.2 yrs
2017-07-28 → 2023-10-20
Power rating
1519
peak 1519 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2017
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- First call Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- First overall top-10 Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- First overall podium Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- First Reserve Championship Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score694.2168 Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- Career-best overall score694.2168 Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- Career-best single call (Brisket)177.1428 Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- 2024
- Most recent contest Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION)
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 | 100% | top 48% | — | — |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 37% | — | — |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 8% | 96.4% | 96.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-17 | Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION) unrated Roswell, GA | 16 / 33 (689.0284) | 10 (176.5600) | 12 (175.4172) | 15 (173.1084) | 28 (163.9428) |
| 2023-10-20 | Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION) unrated Roswell, GA | 13 / 35 (693.6344) | 9 (176.5600) | 16 (171.9772) | 23 (170.8344) | 13 (174.2628) |
| 2017-07-28 | Smoke on the Shrine Lake & Bluegrass Festival (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) Summerville, SC | 2 / 25 (694.2168) | 20 (165.6684) | 1 (176.0000) | 2 (175.4056) | 2 (177.1428) |