HIGH DESERT HOLY SMOKE BBQ CO
Rating
1533
peak 1533
Contests
20
in the data
First seen
2019-08-02
latest 2026-05-23
Best ToY finish
#178
Master 2026
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
4
6 podiums
Overall top-10s
5
of 20 contests
Avg finish
top 54%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
680.13 ▲
last 5 vs career avg 671.63 (+8.50)
Walk rate
60%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
2
best run (overall)
Consistency
±13.76
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 169.60 · weakest Pork Ribs (166.80)
Road miles
7312
mi across 20 mapped stops · furthest 715 mi
Storylines
👀 Looking over their shoulder
Monarchbbq has landed one call behind them 2 times.
⚔️ A tough matchup
POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP has come out ahead in 14 of their 19 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ in 7 of their 10 shared contests.
📅 A August team
Something about August: average finish in the top 36% across 4 contests, versus top 54% the rest of the year.
Teams like this (closest power rating, CO first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 20 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 178.8572 | 157.6800 | 167.60 | top 58% |
| Pork Ribs | 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 180.0000 🔥 | 158.2172 | 166.80 | top 59% |
| Pork | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 174.8572 | 149.1200 | 167.63 | top 56% |
| Brisket | 20 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 177.1428 | 155.9200 | 169.60 | top 39% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO | 10 | 0 | top 47% |
| AZ | 3 | 0 | top 74% |
| NV | 2 | 0 | top 48% |
| NM | 2 | 0 | top 54% |
| TX | 1 | 0 | top 7% |
| UT | 1 | 0 | top 74% |
| OK | 1 | 0 | top 96% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 19% |
| Medium (20–39) | 14 | 0 | top 56% |
| Large (40+) | 5 | 0 | top 53% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2025 (5 contests)
- Cooks mostly in CO (10 of 20 contests)
- Most-entered category: Chicken (20 entries)
- All-time average overall score: 671.63
- 1 perfect 180 on the books 🔥
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 688.5144 | 679.75 |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 699.4060 | 681.76 |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 672.9712 | 667.83 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 652.9944 | 652.99 |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 686.2284 | 673.79 |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 670.1484 | 656.64 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 657.0172 | 657.02 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-23 | Best Dam BBQ Boulder City, NV | 15 / 33 (688.5144) | 11 (174.8572) | 23 (168.5372) | 21 (168.5600) | 5 (176.5600) |
| 2026-05-15 | Luna County Heritage Days Festival Deming, NM | 3 / 16 (686.7428) | 9 (166.2400) | 1 (180.0000) | 4 (174.2744) | 8 (166.2284) |
| 2026-04-24 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off Lamar, CO | 7 / 27 (671.3032) | 8 (171.9772) | 20 (158.2288) | 7 (172.5600) | 8 (168.5372) |
| 2026-02-27 | BBQ & Brew Festival Yuma, AZ | 22 / 25 (672.4344) | 25 (158.2172) | 4 (177.7144) | 22 (166.8228) | 12 (169.6800) |
| 2025-11-21 | BBQ Jackpot Las Vegas, NV | 45 / 90 (681.6460) | 51 (169.6800) | 70 (165.7032) | 31 (172.0000) | 20 (174.2628) |
| 2025-08-15 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championship Lubbock, TX | 4 / 55 (699.4060) | 1 (178.8572) | 18 (171.9772) | 15 (172.0116) | 3 (176.5600) |
| 2025-05-02 | The All American Comeback BBQ, Bourbon, & Bands Ruidoso Downs, NM | 27 / 30 (671.3488) | 28 (166.8344) | 26 (166.2628) | 11 (174.8572) | 25 (163.3944) |
| 2025-04-25 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off Lamar, CO | 4 / 30 (686.2400) | 5 (174.2972) | 19 (165.6800) | 12 (169.6800) | 1 (176.5828) |
| 2025-02-21 | Best in the Southwest Yuma, AZ | 22 / 29 (670.1832) | 15 (170.8344) | 24 (163.9428) | 24 (165.1316) | 12 (170.2744) |
| 2024-09-06 | Veterans of Foreign Wars Colorado KCBS Pitmaster BBQ Contest Castle Rock, CO | 22 / 36 (668.9944) | 14 (171.9772) | 25 (165.0972) | 32 (161.0972) | 13 (170.8228) |
| 2024-06-28 | The Art of Barbeque Sterling, CO | 12 / 25 (672.9712) | 9 (170.8112) | 16 (167.3828) | 17 (165.0972) | 12 (169.6800) |
| 2024-05-10 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off Lamar, CO | 21 / 29 (661.5312) | 26 (161.6456) | 25 (158.8000) | 23 (163.9428) | 1 (177.1428) |
| 2023-05-12 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off Lamar, CO | 22 / 30 (652.9944) | 22 (162.8344) | 21 (162.2400) | 13 (169.1200) | 22 (158.8000) |
| 2022-09-30 | 2022 Mazatzal Grill Masters BBQ Competition & Testicle Festival Payson, AZ | 12 / 21 (677.0172) | 17 (166.8228) | 17 (166.2516) | 14 (168.5256) | 4 (175.4172) |
| 2022-09-09 | Western Legends BBQ Contest Kanab, UT | 23 / 31 (658.1140) | 21 (165.6800) | 13 (166.8228) | 20 (167.3712) | 27 (158.2400) |
| 2022-08-05 | Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews Alamosa, CO | 8 / 35 (686.2284) | 7 (170.8456) | 12 (172.5600) | 14 (170.8572) | 10 (171.9656) |
| 2021-08-06 | SLV Beat the Heat BBQ Alamosa, CO | 20 / 42 (670.1484) | 33 (163.9888) | 21 (167.3828) | 23 (167.9656) | 10 (170.8112) |
| 2021-05-07 | Wild West BBQ Cook-Off Lamar, CO | 14 / 35 (658.2976) | 23 (162.3088) | 4 (171.4516) | 32 (149.1200) | 3 (175.4172) |
| 2021-03-19 | Firelake BBQ Cook Off-Day 1 Shawnee, OK | 54 / 56 (641.4856) | 55 (157.6800) | 53 (158.2172) | 27 (169.6684) | 52 (155.9200) |
| 2019-08-02 | San Luis Valley Beat the Heat BBQ Alamosa, CO | 35 / 54 (657.0172) | 34 (165.6800) | 41 (161.6572) | 32 (164.0000) | 30 (165.6800) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #178 (606 pts) | #243 (511 pts) | #185 (671 pts) | #195 (551 pts) | #153 (666 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #390 (539 pts) | #373 (624 pts) | #645 (294 pts) | #482 (414 pts) | #338 (689 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #627 (264 pts) | #617 (304 pts) | #798 (209 pts) | #739 (214 pts) | #424 (514 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1209 (70 pts) | #1282 (70 pts) | #1368 (75 pts) | #1082 (115 pts) | #1249 (70 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #578 (332 pts) | #613 (327 pts) | #662 (327 pts) | #653 (297 pts) | #545 (387 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #607 (260 pts) | #787 (190 pts) | #559 (350 pts) | #756 (190 pts) | #457 (430 pts) |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #1316 (177 pts) | #1237 (212 pts) | #1416 (172 pts) | #1334 (182 pts) | #1329 (182 pts) |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #1096 (285 pts) | #946 (405 pts) | #952 (400 pts) | #1200 (270 pts) | #1199 (260 pts) |
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #626 (618 pts) | #528 (768 pts) | #570 (723 pts) | #629 (638 pts) | #685 (583 pts) |
| 2015 ↗ | Master | #716 (494 pts) | #749 (494 pts) | #689 (554 pts) | #713 (529 pts) | #1008 (329 pts) |
| 2014 ↗ | Master | #620 (599 pts) | #609 (634 pts) | #659 (579 pts) | #547 (709 pts) | #603 (609 pts) |
| 2013 ↗ | Master | #656 (473 pts) | #1052 (293 pts) | #866 (368 pts) | #715 (468 pts) | #724 (453 pts) |