OUR BARK IS BETTER THAN YOUR BITE VA

Power ranking

#2898

of 3077 rated · rankings

Rating

1431

peak 1431 · rated over 21 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

2019-03-22

latest 2024-06-14

Best ToY finish

#462

Master 2022

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

2 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 21 contests

Avg finish

top 66%

overall standings

Best overall

678.1828 / 720

Master · Almost Heaven BBQ Bash

Perfect 180s

Current form

662.98 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 657.61 (+5.37)

Walk rate

48%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.1544

Pork Ribs · Almost Heaven BBQ Bash

Consistency

±8.41

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 166.58 · weakest Brisket (162.32)

Road miles

3210

mi across 21 mapped stops · furthest 241 mi

Schedule strength

53%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1548)

Purse competed for

$186K

listed at 21 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 21 state-championship entries

Master avg

657.61 / 720

21 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines

🎯 The one to beat

TNT Explosive BBQ has finished one call ahead of OUR BARK IS BETTER THAN YOUR BITE 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

👀 Looking over their shoulder

Garage Beers BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

⚔️ A tough matchup

OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE has come out ahead in 16 of their 16 shared contests.

⚔️ A strong matchup

They've finished ahead of SOUTH BOWIE SMOKE in 8 of their 9 shared contests.

😤 Pork nemesis

Even in their strongest meat, Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit has out-cooked them in 14 of 17 shared pork entries.

🔁 The comeback

Off the trail for 1.6 years, then back at New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES (2021-04-23).

Teams like this (closest power rating, VA first)

BIKER BEAR BBQ #2876 · 1434 · VA LAKEVIEW BBQ #2841 · 1438 · VA KIRBBQ #2838 · 1438 · VA Two Drummer's Q-Crew #2806 · 1441 · VA Boosted BBQ #2657 · 1451 · VA HOG STREET BULLIES #2632 · 1452 · VA

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit	17	1	16	6%	⚔ compare
CHUNKY BBQ	16	1	15	6%	⚔ compare
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ	16	0	16	0%	⚔ compare
PHILLY BLIND PIG BBQ	12	3	9	25%	⚔ compare
BIG DOG BBQ VA	11	3	8	27%	⚔ compare
GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ	11	2	9	18%	⚔ compare
Gold-N-Blue Barbecue	11	1	10	9%	⚔ compare
Off The Rack BBQ	11	1	10	9%	⚔ compare
FRED VEGAS SMOKERS	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
Top Gun Barbecue	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
Second Helping BBQ -PA	10	7	3	70%	⚔ compare
BLUE & GRAY BBQ	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	21	3	0	172.5600	156.5600	165.39	top 64%
Pork Ribs	21	3	2	177.1544	150.2168	163.32	top 63%
Pork	21	6	0	175.4172	153.0628	166.58	top 51%
Brisket	21	3	0	172.5828	152.5372	162.32	top 61%

“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	Avg finish
VA	8	top 82%
WV	5	top 63%
NJ	5	top 61%
PA	3	top 41%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	7	0	top 55%
Large (40+)	14	0	top 72%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard)	4	33	top 86%	2024-03-23
Almost Heaven BBQ Bash	2	20	top 74%	2024-06-14
Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship	2	7	top 36%	2023-10-06
Almost Heaven BBQ Bash	2	13	top 62%	2022-06-17
New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES	2	24	top 67%	2022-04-23
New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES	2	29	top 70%	2022-04-22
BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard)	2	45	top 90%	2022-03-26

The story so far

Busiest season: 2022 (6 contests)
Cooks mostly in VA (8 of 21 contests)
Most-entered category: Chicken (21 entries)
Average Master overall score: 657.61 / 720

Milestones

🚩 2019-03-22 — First tracked contest · BBQ Gives Back-III (Day 1)
📣 2019-03-23 — First call · BBQ Gives Back-IV (DAY 2)
📈 2019-04-27 — Peak power rating (1499) · New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES
⭐ 2021-06-18 — Career-best overall score (678.1828) · Almost Heaven BBQ Bash

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+12.7	Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship	2023-10-06
+7.5	New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES	2019-04-27
+5.4	Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship	2022-10-07
+1.2	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash	2021-06-18
+0.7	Smoke in the Park	2019-09-27

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-10.5	BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard)	2022-03-25
-9.9	BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard)	2022-03-26
-9	BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard)	2023-03-24
-8.9	BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard)	2023-03-25
-8.8	New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES	2021-04-23

Category scores over time

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Team of the Year rank by season

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2024	3	0	0%	top 80%	92.8%	91.8%
2023	4	1	25%	top 69%	92.8%	91.6%
2022	6	0	50%	top 71%	92.4%	91.5%
2021	3	0	67%	top 61%	94.2%	91.6%
2019	5	0	80%	top 54%	92%	90.4%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2024-06-14	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash 🏅 Buckhannon, WV	23 / 30 (658.7428)	19 (165.6800)	19 (166.2400)	14 (169.1084)	24 (157.7144)
2024-03-23	BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	33 / 42 (668.4916)	18 (172.5600)	33 (165.1316)	37 (161.6800)	23 (169.1200)
2024-03-22	BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	38 / 45 (655.8628)	40 (162.8344)	29 (166.2628)	37 (162.8000)	33 (163.9656)
2023-10-06	Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship 🏅 Harrisburg, PA	7 / 28 (667.8968)	17 (163.3828)	2 (175.4172)	15 (162.2284)	7 (166.8684)
2023-06-16	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash 🏅 Buckhannon, WV	20 / 28 (663.8972)	21 (166.8572)	13 (168.0000)	20 (161.6572)	19 (167.3828)
2023-03-25	BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	42 / 46 (655.8856)	46 (156.5600)	29 (167.9772)	21 (171.9656)	41 (159.3828)
2023-03-24	BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	47 / 53 (651.2568)	48 (159.9772)	40 (165.6800)	31 (168.5140)	46 (157.0856)
2022-10-07	Keystone Classic BBQ State Championship 🏅 Harrisburg, PA	12 / 26 (659.8168)	15 (165.1200)	8 (168.5256)	19 (161.6572)	11 (164.5140)
2022-06-17	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash 🏅 Roanoke, WV	13 / 20 (665.0740)	10 (170.2512)	15 (161.6800)	8 (171.4056)	11 (161.7372)
2022-04-23	New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	30 / 41 (657.0628)	26 (167.9656)	37 (158.2516)	15 (170.2744)	29 (160.5712)
2022-04-22	New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	29 / 48 (658.2172)	32 (163.4172)	37 (159.9772)	7 (174.2628)	30 (160.5600)
2022-03-26	BBQ Gives Back (Day 2) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	45 / 50 (654.8000)	39 (166.2512)	35 (168.5600)	35 (167.4516)	48 (152.5372)
2022-03-25	BBQ Gives Back (Day 1) (Masters and Backyard) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	48 / 53 (657.5660)	40 (166.2744)	48 (158.2172)	37 (166.8344)	37 (166.2400)
2021-06-18	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash 🏅 Roanoke, WV	12 / 28 (678.1828)	10 (169.6800)	3 (177.1544)	5 (175.4172)	21 (155.9312)
2021-04-24	New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 2-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	24 / 40 (659.3140)	34 (162.8000)	24 (165.1200)	13 (168.5256)	19 (162.8684)
2021-04-23	New Jersey KnoQ-out: Day 1-CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	32 / 40 (641.6572)	32 (161.6456)	32 (158.2744)	10 (168.5944)	35 (153.1428)
2019-09-27	Smoke in the Park 🏅 Lemoyne, PA	21 / 40 (649.6456)	30 (159.9772)	34 (152.5256)	6 (169.7028)	12 (167.4400)
2019-06-07	Almost Heaven BBQ Bash 🏅 Roanoke, WV	18 / 31 (645.0284)	10 (167.4172)	22 (151.9428)	8 (167.4056)	21 (158.2628)
2019-04-27	New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	13 / 43 (662.1828)	26 (161.1200)	15 (163.9772)	16 (166.2400)	5 (170.8456)
2019-03-23	BBQ Gives Back-IV (DAY 2) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	31 / 52 (654.7424)	17 (172.5600)	50 (150.2168)	37 (159.3828)	8 (172.5828)
2019-03-22	BBQ Gives Back-III (Day 1) 🏅 Urbanna, VA	44 / 63 (644.4112)	15 (170.8572)	37 (160.5256)	57 (153.0628)	40 (159.9656)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

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
2024 ↗	Master	#743 (185 pts)	#709 (240 pts)	#804 (205 pts)	#710 (230 pts)	#782 (190 pts)
2023 ↗	Master	#519 (356 pts)	#642 (286 pts)	#490 (486 pts)	#581 (321 pts)	#528 (361 pts)
2022 ↗	Master	#462 (461 pts)	#482 (461 pts)	#508 (481 pts)	#389 (616 pts)	#478 (476 pts)
2021 ↗	Master	#634 (243 pts)	#664 (248 pts)	#555 (353 pts)	#438 (433 pts)	#717 (223 pts)
2019 ↗	Master	#1816 (80 pts)	#2049 (60 pts)	#2028 (60 pts)	#1342 (175 pts)	#1519 (125 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#786 (415 pts)	#827 (410 pts)	#661 (555 pts)	#918 (350 pts)	#921 (350 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#850 (431 pts)	#553 (726 pts)	#827 (481 pts)	#906 (421 pts)	#649 (611 pts)