Knuckle Draggers BBQ

Knuckle Draggers BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 4 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2023. They have won 2 Grand Championships, most recently at the Icebox Cookoff (2023). They finished #524 in the 2022 Master Series Team of the Year standings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Rating

1537

Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 31 invitational or side-series contest not counted

Contests

in the data

First seen

Aug 20, 2022

latest Oct 13, 2023 · 1.1 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#524

Master 2022 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve · wins it all 50% of the time

Category wins

5 podiums

Overall top-10s

50% of 4 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s · 2 straight GCs

Avg finish

top 34%

overall standings

Best overall

698.7884 / 720

Master · Icebox Cookoff

Perfect 180s

Walk rate

75%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.7144

Pork Ribs · 5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff

Consistency

±12.98

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 172.99 · weakest Brisket (168.98)

Road miles

2,383

across 4 mapped stops · furthest 1,932 mi

Schedule strength

12%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1517)

Purse competed for

$30K

listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

2 🏅

won from 3 state-championship entries

Master avg

684.53 / 720

4 Master contests · 2 GCs

Storylines (6 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

Against the odds

28-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 72 times in 100

Their Grand Championship at Icebox Cookoff (Jul 1, 2023) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 28-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, CROOKED PIGS.

Giant slayer

38 teams beaten in one weekend

Took the Grand Championship over a 38-team field at Icebox Cookoff.

Jul 1, 2023

High-water mark

698.7884 career-best overall

97.1% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 698.7884 at Icebox Cookoff — 97.1% of a perfect 720.

Master
Jul 1, 2023

State champions

2 state championships won

They've taken 2 state championships from 3 entries at contests carrying the title.

3 state-championship entries

A strong matchup

3–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 75% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Alderfire BBQ in 3 of their 4 shared contests.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

SLOW PORKIN has landed one call behind them 2 times.

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
2023 ↗	Master	#587 (285 pts)	#820 (185 pts)	#1118 (120 pts)	#825 (175 pts)	#708 (235 pts)
2022 ↗	Master	#524 (388 pts)	#517 (423 pts)	#606 (368 pts)	#599 (333 pts)	#683 (273 pts)

Overall rank by season

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	4	3	1	177.7028	164.5484	172.99	top 30%
Pork Ribs	4	2	1	177.7144	166.2744	171.13	top 41%
Pork	4	2	1	176.5944	165.7028	171.43	top 42%
Brisket	4	2	2	176.5600	158.8344	168.98	top 44%

“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	1	top 5%
Medium (20–39)	2	1	top 22%
Large (40+)	1	0	top 86%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
OR	2	2	top 4%
TN	1	0	top 86%
WA	1	0	top 41%

More numbers

Contests a season 2 across 2 seasons in the data

Most contests held in OR 2 of 4 contests · 3 states in all

Contests visited 4 a different one every time

First title Oct 7, 2022 Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More

Opponents faced 134 finished ahead 83 times, behind 80

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20234 milestones

Jul 1 Biggest field won (38 teams) Icebox Cookoff
Jul 1 Career-best overall score698.7884 Icebox Cookoff
Jul 1 Peak power rating (1537) Icebox Cookoff
Oct 13 Most recent contest Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY)

20228 milestones

Aug 20 First tracked contest 5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff
Aug 20 First call 5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff
Aug 20 First overall past 90% of a perfect score682.2516 5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff
Aug 20 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.7144 5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff
Oct 7 First overall top-10 Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More
Oct 7 First overall podium Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More
Oct 7 First Grand Championship Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More
Oct 7 First state championship Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16.6	Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More	Oct 7, 2022
+16.1	Icebox Cookoff	Jul 1, 2023
+3.9	5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff	Aug 20, 2022

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)
2023	2	1	1	0	50%	top 45%	97.1%	94.7%
2022	2	1	1	0	100%	top 23%	96.2%	95.5%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Oct 13, 2023	Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY) unrated Lynchburg, TN	70 / 81 (664.5028)	62 (164.5484)	64 (166.2744)	66 (165.7028)	52 (167.9772)
Jul 1, 2023	Icebox Cookoff 🏅 Sweet Home, OR	1 / 38 (698.7884)	5 (176.5600)	13 (170.2628)	6 (175.4056)	3 (176.5600)
Oct 7, 2022	Hermiston Fall Fest, BBQ, Brews, & More 🏅 Hermiston, OR	1 / 19 (692.5600)	3 (173.1428)	8 (170.2628)	2 (176.5944)	3 (172.5600)
Aug 20, 2022	5th Annual Hudson's Bay Heritage Days BBQ Cookoff 🏅 DuPont, WA	12 / 29 (682.2516)	4 (177.7028)	3 (177.7144)	18 (168)	26 (158.8344)

An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.

Knuckle Draggers BBQ

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (6 found in their record)

Against the odds

Giant slayer

High-water mark

State champions

A strong matchup

Looking over their shoulder

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

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

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

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