The comeback
4.9 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 4.9 years, then back at Steel City Smokeout (Jul 19, 2024).
- last seen Aug 9, 2019
- back Jul 19, 2024
Grumpy's BBQ
Grumpy's BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 4 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2015 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 7th of 29 at the Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show (2019). They finished #978 in the 2024 Master Series Team of the Year standings. Also listed in KCBS results as “GRUMPYS BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1498
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 3
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
Jun 26, 2015
latest Jul 19, 2024 · 9.1 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podium
Overall top-10s
3
75% of 4 contests
Best top-10 run
3
straight overall top-10s, still running
Avg finish
top 54%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
75%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 166.29 · weakest Brisket (142.53)
Road miles
1,865
across 4 mapped stops · furthest 1,288 mi
Schedule strength
32%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1543)
Purse competed for
$18K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
621.38 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
481.53 / 540
1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, 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.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #978 (110 pts) | #977 (120 pts) | #1021 (120 pts) | #1021 (110 pts) | #1011 (110 pts) |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 163.3944 | 155.9084 | 158.62 | top 56% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 178.8800 | 154.2972 | 166.29 | top 38% |
| Pork | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 159.9196 | 149.0972 | 154.83 | top 68% |
| Brisket | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 147.3600 | 137.6916 | 142.53 | top 91% |
“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) | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 31% |
More numbers
Contests a season
1
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
NC
2 of 4 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
3
a different one every time
Opponents faced
74
finished ahead 43 times, behind 30
Longest layoff
4.9 yrs
Aug 9, 2019 → Jul 19, 2024
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20241 milestone
- Most recent contest Steel City Smokeout
20191 milestone
- Peak power rating (1515) Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show
20156 milestones
- First tracked contest Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival
- First call Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival
- First overall top-10 Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival
- Career-best overall score645.1088 Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)178.8800 Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +9.8 | Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show | Aug 9, 2019 |
| +5.7 | Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival | Jun 26, 2015 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -17.7 | Steel City Smokeout | Jul 19, 2024 |
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 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 100% | 83% | 83% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 24% | 89.2% | 89.2% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 37% | 89.6% | 89.6% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2024 | Steel City Smokeout 🏅 Bethlehem, PA | 10 / 10 (597.6460) | 9 (156.5600) | 9 (154.2972) | 10 (149.0972) | 10 (137.6916) |
| Aug 9, 2019 | Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show 🏅 Franklin, NC | 7 / 29 (481.5308) | 10 (155.9084) | 6 (165.7028) | 10 (159.9196) | — |
| Aug 10, 2018 | Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jun 26, 2015 | Leadville BBQ and Brew Festival Leadville, CO | 10 / 27 (645.1088) | 12 (163.3944) | 1 (178.8800) | 19 (155.4744) | 22 (147.3600) |