The comeback
9 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 9 years, then back at Smoke on the Bricks (2023-08-25).
- last seen 2014-08-30
- back 2023-08-25
Family Tradition
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1493
peak 1493 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2014-08-30
latest 2026-07-31
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 65%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 161.52 · weakest Brisket (153.39)
Road miles
715
mi across 3 mapped stops · furthest 715 mi
Schedule strength
46%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1559)
Purse competed for
$23K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
625.36 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
340.49 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 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 (1 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.
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.
Family Tradition has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 132 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#3506 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1493
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#3491 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1503
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Family Tradition's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3496 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1504
No shared contest yet.
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2014.
⚔ Head-to-head#3480 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
Level with Family Tradition on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3494 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1513
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Family Tradition's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3483 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1511
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 10 years before Family Tradition's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.6684 | 153.6800 | 161.29 | top 63% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.8228 | 152.0116 | 161.52 | top 62% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163.9660 | 152.0344 | 158.00 | top 77% |
| Brisket | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 157.1200 | 149.6576 | 153.39 | top 67% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IA | 1 | 0 | top 23% |
| KS | 1 | 0 | top 86% |
| TX | 1 | 0 | top 84% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 23% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 85% |
The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
11.9 yrs
2014-08-30 → 2026-07-31
Busiest season
2026
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
IA
1 of 3 contests · 3 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 161.52 · weakest Brisket (153.39)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
33%
1 of 3 contests
Master average
625.36
out of 720 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
340.49
out of 360 · 1 contest · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
156
47–110 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
715
3 mapped stops · furthest 715 mi
Schedule strength
1559
average field rating faced — tougher than 46% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$22,750
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 2 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
9 yrs
2014-08-30 → 2023-08-25
Power rating
1493
peak 1493 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2014
- First tracked contest City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival
- 2023
- Career-best overall score635.8756 Smoke on the Bricks
- 2026
- First call Cruisin' and BBQin'
- First overall top-10 Cruisin' and BBQin'
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score340.4912 Cruisin' and BBQin'
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)170.8228 Cruisin' and BBQin'
- Peak power rating (1493) Cruisin' and BBQin'
- Most recent contest Cruisin' and BBQin'
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.6 | Cruisin' and BBQin' | 2026-07-31 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.1 | City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival | 2014-08-30 |
| -8.5 | Smoke on the Bricks | 2023-08-25 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 23% | 94.6% | 94.6% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 86% | 88.3% | 88.3% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 84% | 85.4% | 85.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | Cruisin' and BBQin' 🏅 Hampton, IA | 6 / 26 (340.4912) | 7 (169.6684) | 7 (170.8228) | — | — |
| 2023-08-25 | Smoke on the Bricks 🏅 Baldwin City, KS | 38 / 44 (635.8756) | 38 (160.5260) | 36 (161.7260) | 28 (163.9660) | 39 (149.6576) |
| 2014-08-30 | City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival Bedford, TX | 64 / 76 (614.8460) | 57 (153.6800) | 58 (152.0116) | 68 (152.0344) | 35 (157.1200) |