High-water mark
666.1484
career-best overall
92.5% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 666.1484 at Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ — 92.5% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Sep 8, 2022
Last Place Chicken
Last Place Chicken is a competition barbecue team with 12 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 9th of 50 at the WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) (2024). They are ranked #2878 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1509
peak 1526 · rated over 12 contests
Contests
12
in the data
First seen
Apr 8, 2016
latest Jun 12, 2026 · 10.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
1
8% of 12 contests
Avg finish
top 56%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
331.81 ▼
last 5 Backyard vs avg 335.24 (-3.43)
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±7.03
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 165.49 · weakest Brisket (154.44)
Road miles
216
across 12 mapped stops · furthest 49 mi
Schedule strength
40%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1553)
Purse competed for
$63K
listed at 11 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
633.75 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
335.24 / 360
9 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 Last Place Chicken, each with one reason worth a look.
100 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,869 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1513
2–4 in 6 shared contests (33% to Last Place Chicken)
These two have cooked 6 of the same contests — Just For Fun BBQ ahead 4–2 — so there's a record behind this pairing and not just a matching number.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,889 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1519
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Last Place Chicken)
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Last Place Chicken's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,887 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 31%
- Peak
- 1526
Careers of much the same size, 13 contests to 12, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,877 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 27%
- Peak
- 1509
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 11 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#2,883 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 9%
- Peak
- 1509
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2016.
⚔ Compare careers#2,881 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1521
Level with Last Place Chicken on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonnie Blue BBQ | 7 | 4 | 3 | 57% | ⚔ compare |
| Gustoso BBQ | 7 | 3 | 4 | 43% | ⚔ compare |
| LEE LA Q | 7 | 2 | 5 | 29% | ⚔ compare |
| Deviant Smoke | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Hickory Hangover | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Smoke'Em All | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50% | ⚔ compare |
| PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| Say My Name BBQ | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| Just For Fun BBQ | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| NORALA BBQ TEAM | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Boss Hawgs | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| Invarique | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Boob-B-Q | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Boar on the Floor | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Happy Grillmore | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.2628 | 152.5028 | 165.49 | top 60% |
| Pork Ribs | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 173.1428 | 150.8344 | 165.45 | top 57% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 168.5372 | 151.3716 | 161.29 | top 68% |
| Brisket | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 175.4172 | 117.6344 | 154.44 | top 47% |
“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) | 8 | 0 | top 62% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 44% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) | 4 | 11 | 0 | top 44% | Jun 12, 2026 |
| WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 9 | 0 | top 51% | Oct 17, 2025 |
| Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ | 2 | 16 | 0 | top 54% | Sep 8, 2022 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
4 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AL
12 of 12 contests
Contests visited
7
3 of them more than once
Opponents faced
310
finished ahead 274 times, behind 273
Longest layoff
5.2 yrs
Apr 8, 2016 → Jun 11, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20261 milestone
- Most recent contest Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)
20251 milestone
- 10th tracked contest Smoke on the Water Guntersville (BACKYARD ONLY)
20242 milestones
- First overall top-10 WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1526) WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
20223 milestones
- First call Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ
- Career-best overall score666.1484 Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ
- Career-best single call (Brisket)175.4172 Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ
20211 milestone
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score339.3944 Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)
20161 milestone
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Falls Noccalula BBQ Fest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +10.9 | WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Oct 18, 2024 |
| +9.6 | The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | Oct 20, 2023 |
| +8.2 | Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 11, 2021 |
| +6.9 | Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ | Sep 8, 2022 |
| +5.5 | Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 12, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.3 | Smoke on the Falls Noccalula BBQ Fest | Apr 8, 2016 |
| -10.1 | WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Oct 17, 2025 |
| -9.3 | Smoke on the Water Guntersville (BACKYARD ONLY) | Sep 12, 2025 |
| -5.4 | Singing River Smoke-O-Rama (BACKYARD ONLY) | Mar 21, 2025 |
| -1.4 | Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ | Aug 13, 2021 |
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 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 42% | 95.1% | 95.1% |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25% | top 74% | 94.1% | 91.4% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 32% | 95.1% | 94.5% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 24% | 93.9% | 93.9% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 46% | 92.5% | 92.5% |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 49% | 94.3% | 93.2% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 79.5% | 79.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 2026 | Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 13 / 31 (342.2400) | 12 (174.2628) | 18 (167.9772) | — | — |
| Oct 17, 2025 | WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 33 / 39 (321.0512) | 27 (163.9656) | 36 (157.0856) | — | — |
| Sep 12, 2025 | Smoke on the Water Guntersville (BACKYARD ONLY) Guntersville, AL | 25 / 28 (330.2060) | 23 (162.8116) | 18 (167.3944) | — | — |
| Jun 13, 2025 | Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 18 / 35 (338.8228) | 30 (165.6800) | 9 (173.1428) | — | — |
| Mar 21, 2025 | Singing River Smoke-O-Rama (BACKYARD ONLY) Athens, AL | 31 / 43 (326.7428) | 38 (158.2056) | 22 (168.5372) | — | — |
| Oct 18, 2024 | WhistleStop BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 9 / 50 (342.2744) | 14 (170.8688) | 9 (171.4056) | — | — |
| Jun 7, 2024 | Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 16 / 35 (338.1940) | 16 (168.5256) | 13 (169.6684) | — | — |
| Oct 20, 2023 | The Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 12 / 50 (338.2172) | 9 (171.9772) | 27 (166.2400) | — | — |
| Sep 8, 2022 | Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ 🏅 Huntsville, AL | 16 / 35 (666.1484) | 30 (157.0740) | 23 (165.1200) | 12 (168.5372) | 2 (175.4172) |
| Aug 13, 2021 | Whistlestop Festival & Rocket City BBQ 🏅 Huntsville, AL | 31 / 49 (662.7540) | 21 (169.6912) | 40 (158.8344) | 34 (163.9656) | 17 (170.2628) |
| Jun 11, 2021 | Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL | 11 / 31 (339.3944) | 12 (170.2628) | 11 (169.1316) | — | — |
| Apr 8, 2016 | Smoke on the Falls Noccalula BBQ Fest Gadsden, AL | 25 / 25 (572.3432) | 24 (152.5028) | 24 (150.8344) | 25 (151.3716) | 25 (117.6344) |