A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
Rudes BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Rudes BBQ has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
Hillbilly Deluxe
Hillbilly Deluxe is a competition barbecue team with 7 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 6th of 35 at the Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2023). They are ranked #2644 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1515
peak 1519 · rated over 6 contests
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
Apr 18, 2014
latest Aug 23, 2024 · 10.3 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
29% of 7 contests
Avg finish
top 46%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
57%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±7.84
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 167.39 · weakest Brisket (162.83)
Road miles
870
across 7 mapped stops · furthest 437 mi
Schedule strength
18%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1525)
Purse competed for
$30K
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
649.01 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
330.95 / 360
5 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master 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.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Hillbilly Deluxe, each with one reason worth a look.
79 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,629 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 57%
- Peak
- 1519
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Hillbilly Deluxe)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Hillbilly Deluxe has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,632 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 100%
- Peak
- 1516
Careers of much the same size, 6 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,636 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1519
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 5 years before Hillbilly Deluxe's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,630 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 67%
- Peak
- 1516
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2014.
⚔ Compare careers#2,637 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1521
Level with Hillbilly Deluxe on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,640 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1517
Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 9 years before Hillbilly Deluxe'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 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 166.8800 | 160.5600 | 163.89 | top 56% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 178.2972 | 149.6800 | 163.73 | top 39% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.3944 | 167.3944 | 167.39 | top 47% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.8344 | 162.8344 | 162.83 | top 68% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 43% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 53% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 11 | 0 | top 59% | Aug 17, 2024 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
3 contests
Contests a season
1.8
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
6 of 7 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
5
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
7 entries · 1 win · 3 calls
Opponents faced
176
finished ahead 115 times, behind 102
Longest layoff
5.2 yrs
Apr 18, 2014 → Jun 21, 2019
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20242 milestones
- Peak power rating (1519) Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
20233 milestones
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)178.2972 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
20191 milestone
- First call Heritage Days BBQ Showdown Day 1
20143 milestones
- First tracked contest High on the Hog Festival
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score649.0060 High on the Hog Festival
- Career-best overall score649.0060 High on the Hog Festival
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.2 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Sep 16, 2023 |
| +7.6 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 14, 2024 |
| +7 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 19, 2023 |
| +5.6 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 23, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.6 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 17, 2024 |
| -6.6 | High on the Hog Festival | Apr 18, 2014 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33% | top 50% | 93.2% | 91.4% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 26% | 94.1% | 92.8% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 76% | 90.1% | 90.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 23, 2024 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 10 / 28 (335.3600) | 9 (166.8228) | 11 (168.5372) | — | — |
| Aug 17, 2024 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 22 / 26 (316.5600) | 16 (166.8800) | 24 (149.6800) | — | — |
| Jun 14, 2024 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 12 / 40 (334.8340) | 17 (165.1312) | 11 (169.7028) | — | — |
| Sep 16, 2023 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 6 / 35 (338.8572) | 19 (160.5600) | 1 (178.2972) | — | — |
| Aug 19, 2023 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 11 / 32 (329.1204) | 21 (160.5716) | 3 (168.5488) | — | — |
| Jun 21, 2019 | Heritage Days BBQ Showdown Day 1 🏅 Belvidere, IL | — | — | 8 (155.9660) | — | — |
| Apr 18, 2014 | High on the Hog Festival Winchester, TN | 47 / 62 (649.0060) | 49 (163.3944) | 54 (155.3828) | 29 (167.3944) | 42 (162.8344) |