The heartbreaker
1.6800
points from the title
Came within 1.6800 points of the Grand Championship at Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard) (Jun 17, 2022).
Hillbilly Smoke
Hillbilly Smoke is a competition barbecue team with 12 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 13 at the Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard) (2022), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1525
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 4
Contests
12
in the data
First seen
Oct 25, 2019
latest Jun 26, 2026 · 6.7 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
0
5 podiums
Overall top-10s
3
25% of 12 contests
Best top-10 run
3
straight overall top-10s, still running
Avg finish
top 34%
overall standings
Best overall
493.0860 / 540
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
42%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±4.89
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 168.19 · weakest Pork (162.54)
Road miles
2,550
across 12 mapped stops · furthest 736 mi
Schedule strength
7%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1509)
Purse competed for
$11K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
Backyard avg
337.51 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
493.09 / 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Hillbilly Smoke, each with one reason worth a look.
Hillbilly Smoke has 4 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 85 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#2,361 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1525
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Hillbilly Smoke's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,363 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1524
Fewer contests behind them than Hillbilly Smoke has cooked, 5 to 12, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#2,352 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1525
They were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before Hillbilly Smoke's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#2,350 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1525
Level with Hillbilly Smoke on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,360 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1526
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 5 years before Hillbilly Smoke's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,347 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 43%
- Peak
- 1525
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Hillbilly Smoke's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 174.8456 | 163.4172 | 168.19 | top 28% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 176 | 143.9316 | 166.08 | top 37% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2856 | 158.8000 | 162.54 | top 65% |
“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) | 2 | 0 | top 31% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 23% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 52% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard) | 2 | 2 | 0 | top 19% | Jun 17, 2022 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2017
4 contests
Contests a season
1.5
across 8 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
TN
8 of 12 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
3
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
78
finished ahead 58 times, behind 34
Longest layoff
4 yrs
Jun 17, 2022 → Jun 26, 2026
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20262 milestones
- Peak power rating (1525) Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
20223 milestones
- First overall podium Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard)
- First Reserve Championship Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard)
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)176 Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard)
20212 milestones
- First overall top-10 Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 10th tracked contest Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
20192 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score493.0860 Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)
- Career-best overall score493.0860 Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)
20171 milestone
- First call Rib Fest 2017 (BACKYARD)
20141 milestone
- First tracked contest Tony Stone-Cookeville Cookoff
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +12.6 | Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard) | Jun 17, 2022 |
| +10.2 | Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 19, 2021 |
| +1.6 | Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 26, 2026 |
| +0.3 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) | Oct 25, 2019 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 47% | 92.1% | 92.1% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 15% | 95.4% | 95.4% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 23% | 93.8% | 93.8% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 52% | 91.3% | 91.3% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 2026 | Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Sioux City, IA | 9 / 19 (331.4288) | 12 (163.4172) | 8 (168.0116) | — | — |
| Jun 17, 2022 | Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (Backyard) Sioux City, IA | 2 / 13 (343.4056) | 3 (167.4056) | 2 (176) | — | — |
| Jun 19, 2021 | Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Sioux City, IA | 5 / 22 (337.7028) | 6 (165.7028) | 5 (172) | — | — |
| Oct 25, 2019 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) Lynchburg, TN | 22 / 42 (493.0860) | 17 (166.2744) | 28 (160.5260) | 20 (166.2856) | — |
| Sep 21, 2018 | Smoke in the Valley Pikeville, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 27, 2017 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) Lynchburg, TN | — | 3 (174.8456) | 2 (176) | 35 (158.8000) | — |
| Sep 22, 2017 | Smoke in the Valley Pikeville, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 8, 2017 | Cumberland Plateau BBQ Cook-Off & Cruise In (DAY 1) Jamestown, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jun 23, 2017 | Rib Fest 2017 (BACKYARD) Sioux, IA | — | 2 (171.4856) | 15 (143.9316) | — | — |
| Aug 12, 2016 | Smokin' In McMinnville McMinnville, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 8, 2016 | Cumberland Plateau BBQ Cook-off and Cruise In Jamestown, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 5, 2014 | Tony Stone-Cookeville Cookoff Cookeville, TN | — | — | — | — | — |