The comeback
3.3 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 3.3 years, then back at Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle (2022-06-25).
- last seen 2019-02-22
- back 2022-06-25
Southern Smoke
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1473
peak 1473 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
2014-04-04
latest 2024-01-04
Best ToY finish
#2689
Master 2014
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 10 contests
Avg finish
top 74%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
595.94
last 3 Master vs avg 595.94 (+0.00)
Walk rate
40%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±58.19
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 157.14 · weakest Pork (126.71)
Road miles
6,938
mi across 9 mapped stops · furthest 1036 mi
Schedule strength
36%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1547)
Purse competed for
$25K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
595.94 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
299.98 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
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.
Storylines (2 found in this team's record)
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
The long haul
6,938
road miles between contests
Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 6,938 miles across 9 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 1,036 miles to Bliss, Brews & Que.
- 9 mapped stops
- furthest 1,036 mi
Teams like this (closest power rating)
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.
144 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4501 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1504
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Southern Smoke)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Southern Smoke has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#4502 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1472
No shared contest yet.
Fewer contests behind them than Southern Smoke has cooked, 5 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-head#4475 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1509 at their best, 36 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4514 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1472
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 8 years after Southern Smoke did, first appearing in 2022.
⚔ Head-to-head#4515 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1472
No shared contest yet.
Level with Southern Smoke on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4482 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1473
No shared contest yet.
Fewer contests behind them than Southern Smoke has cooked, 5 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.2972 | 138.8684 | 157.14 | top 60% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 171.4400 | 147.4632 | 157.03 | top 59% |
| Pork | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 167.4628 | 20.0000 | 126.71 | top 63% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.2744 | 143.3716 | 153.39 | top 73% |
“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 | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS | 2 | 0 | top 83% |
| FL | 1 | 0 | top 49% |
| DC | 1 | 0 | top 84% |
| SC | 1 | 0 | top 72% |
| NJ | 1 | 0 | top 74% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 75% |
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 80% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 49% |
The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
9.8 yrs
2014-04-04 → 2024-01-04
Busiest season
2014
3 contests
Contests a season
1.4
across 7 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
MS
3 of 10 contests · 6 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
6
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
7 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 157.14 · weakest Pork (126.71)
Walk rate
40%
a top-10 call in 4 of 10 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 10 contests
Master average
595.94
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
299.98
out of 360 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
207
57–153 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
6,938
9 mapped stops · furthest 1,036 mi
Schedule strength
1547
average field rating faced — tougher than 36% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$25,250
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 3 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
3.3 yrs
2019-02-22 → 2022-06-25
Power rating
1473
peak 1473 · #4497 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- First tracked contest Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2014
- Peak power rating (1488) 'Que at the View
- 2015
- First call Squealin' on the Square
- Career-best overall score639.9772 Squealin' on the Square
- 2022
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)171.4400 Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle
- 2024
- 10th tracked contest 8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show
- Most recent contest 8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12 | 'Que at the View | 2014-04-04 |
| -5.6 | Squealin' on the Square | 2015-10-02 |
| -4.7 | Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle | 2022-06-25 |
| -4.1 | D'Iberville BBQ Throw Down Festival | 2019-02-22 |
| -1.1 | 8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show | 2024-01-04 |
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)
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 74% | 80.5% | 80.5% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 49% | 86.7% | 86.7% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 84% | 71.3% | 71.3% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 75% | 82.9% | 82.9% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 72% | 88.9% | 88.9% |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 88.1% | 88.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-01-04 | 8th Annual Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam & Car Show 🏅 Elkton, FL | 21 / 43 (311.9544) | 9 (170.2972) | 22 (150.2516) | 16 (161.1428) | 23 (143.3716) |
| 2022-06-25 | Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle 🏅 Washington, DC | 27 / 32 (513.7140) | 27 (159.9996) | 10 (171.4400) | 28 (20.0000) | 24 (162.2744) |
| 2019-02-22 | D'Iberville BBQ Throw Down Festival 🏅 Diberville, MS | 12 / 16 (298.2628) | 14 (138.8684) | 10 (159.3944) | — | — |
| 2018-02-23 | *D'Iberville BBQ Throw down Kids Q & Festival (JUDGES FULL) D'Iberville, MS | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015-10-09 | Bliss, Brews & Que Fort Bliss, TX | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015-10-02 | Squealin' on the Square Laurens, SC | 18 / 25 (639.9772) | 16 (157.7144) | 18 (157.6684) | 10 (167.4628) | 17 (157.1316) |
| 2014-10-10 | Bliss, Brews & Que Fort Bliss, TX | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014-04-04 | 'Que at the View Gulfport, MS | 33 / 36 (634.1256) | 11 (169.1428) | 31 (155.9544) | 32 (158.2512) | 34 (150.7772) |
| 2014-01-23 | The Tiger Town Pig Festival Lakeland, FL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fire In the Sky BBQ Lite'N Up Broadway (BACKYARD ONLY) Broadway Westville, NJ | 17 / 23 (289.7148) | 22 (142.2516) | 12 (147.4632) | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 ↗ | Master | #2689 (61 pts) | #1867 (131 pts) | #2708 (61 pts) | #2706 (61 pts) | #2698 (61 pts) |