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.
2024 was the year it came together: 4 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 57%.
RUBY CREEK BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
RUBY CREEK BBQ has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
Off the trail for 8.1 years, then back at Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) (2021-11-05).
Shmack Q ahead 83% of the time
Even in their strongest meat, Shmack Q has out-cooked them in 5 of 6 shared pork ribs entries.
Their overall swings ±26.42% 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.
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.
137 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
Fewer contests behind them than BBQ Buddies has cooked, 6 to 11, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2021, 3 years before BBQ Buddies's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headLevel with BBQ Buddies on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headBoth teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2016, 8 years before BBQ Buddies's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headTheir last contest in the data was back in 2015, 9 years before BBQ Buddies's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 173.7028 | 149.6800 | 155.97 | top 76% |
| Pork Ribs | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 170.8228 | 151.3716 | 161.06 | top 65% |
| Pork | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.2744 | 149.6800 | 160.31 | top 75% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 137.0628 | 137.0628 | 137.06 | top 94% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IL | 7 | 0 | top 72% |
| ON | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 4 | 0 | top 75% |
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 70% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 92% |
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) | 2 | 14 | 0 | top 89% | 2023-09-15 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.6 | 1st Annual Hy-Vee Ribs & Rides (BBQ Challenge and Car Show) (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-06-08 |
| +1.3 | Westmont Red White & BBQ Backyard BBQ Cook-Off 2022 (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-05-28 |
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.8 | Stuttering John's Smokehouse BBQ Competition | 2023-06-17 |
| -12.4 | Central Illinois Bragging Rights | 2013-10-11 |
| -10.5 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-08-17 |
| -3.9 | Westmont Red White & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2023-05-27 |
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25% | top 57% | 95.7% | 90.2% |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 132.3% | 87.1% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 50% | 88.4% | 88.4% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 78% | — | — |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 82.8% | 82.8% |
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-09-01 | Rib Double Dip (2) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 13 (165.6800) | — | — |
| 2024-09-01 | Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 18 (156.5144) | — | — |
| 2024-08-17 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 24 / 26 (305.0744) | 24 (153.7028) | 23 (151.3716) | — | — |
| 2024-06-08 | 1st Annual Hy-Vee Ribs & Rides (BBQ Challenge and Car Show) (BACKYARD ONLY) Sycamore, IL | 2 / 9 (344.5256) | 2 (173.7028) | 3 (170.8228) | 4 (170.2744) | — |
| 2023-09-15 | Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 17 / 17 (634.6396) | 17 (151.9312) | 13 (163.9656) | 16 (161.6684) | — |
| 2023-09-15 | Saluting with Smoke Single Meat - Rib Burn (ONE MEAT RIBS) Yorkville, IL | — | — | 14 (169.7372) | — | — |
| 2023-06-17 | Stuttering John's Smokehouse BBQ Competition Seagrave, ON | 15 / 15 (301.6572) | 13 (149.7260) | 12 (151.9312) | — | — |
| 2023-05-27 | Westmont Red White & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Westmont, IL | 23 / 34 (476.4000) | 24 (159.3600) | 19 (161.6800) | 24 (155.3600) | — |
| 2022-05-28 | Westmont Red White & BBQ Backyard BBQ Cook-Off 2022 (BACKYARD ONLY) Westmont, IL | 14 / 28 (318.2056) | 19 (153.6456) | 4 (164.5600) | — | — |
| 2021-11-05 | Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 14 / 18 (642.7428) | 15 (155.9884) | 15 (155.9084) | 14 (164.5716) | — |
| 2013-10-11 | Central Illinois Bragging Rights Arthur, IL | 49 / 53 (595.8628) | 43 (149.6800) | 30 (159.4400) | 48 (149.6800) | 50 (137.0628) |
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #179 (290 pts) | #183 (290 pts) | #148 (373 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | — | — | #847 (182 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #331 (64 pts) | #322 (89 pts) | — | — |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1125 (90 pts) | #1158 (100 pts) | #1254 (105 pts) | — | — |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #306 (83 pts) | #187 (203 pts) | — | — |