The comeback
6.1 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 6.1 years, then back at Smoke, Wind & Fire (Jul 23, 2022).
- last seen Jun 3, 2016
- back Jul 23, 2022
Guardians of the Grill
Guardians of the Grill is a competition barbecue team with 4 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2023. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Smoke, Wind & Fire (2022).
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1509
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 2
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
Jul 23, 2022
latest Jul 20, 2023 · 1 year on the trail
Grand champs
1
0 reserve · wins it all 25% of the time
Category wins
1
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
50% of 4 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s, still running
Avg finish
top 40%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
50%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 170.85 · weakest Pork Ribs (150.54)
Road miles
1,331
across 4 mapped stops · furthest 1,314 mi
Master avg
643.93 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
328.55 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 1 GC
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.
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 174.2972 | 165.1084 | 169.70 | top 26% |
| Pork Ribs | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 163.4400 | 137.6456 | 150.54 | top 53% |
| Pork | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.8456 | 170.8456 | 170.85 | top 50% |
| Brisket | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 161.1428 | 161.1428 | 161.14 | top 83% |
“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 | 0 | top 75% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 1 | top 5% |
More numbers
Contests a season
1
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
2 of 4 contests · 2 states and provinces in all
Contests visited
2
a different one every time
First title
Jul 23, 2022
Smoke, Wind & Fire
Opponents faced
30
finished ahead 26 times, behind 8
Longest layoff
6.1 yrs
Jun 3, 2016 → Jul 23, 2022
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20233 milestones
- Career-best overall score643.9312 Smoke, Wind & Fire
- Career-best single call (Chicken)174.2972 Smoke, Wind & Fire
- Most recent contest Smoke, Wind & Fire
20226 milestones
- First call Smoke, Wind & Fire
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Smoke, Wind & Fire
- First overall top-10 Smoke, Wind & Fire
- First overall podium Smoke, Wind & Fire
- First Grand Championship Smoke, Wind & Fire
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score328.5484 Smoke, Wind & Fire
20151 milestone
- First tracked contest Up In Smoke On The Square
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 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 75% | 89.4% | 89.4% |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 5% | 91.3% | 91.3% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2023 | Smoke, Wind & Fire Raymond, AB | 9 / 12 (643.9312) | 5 (174.2972) | 12 (137.6456) | 6 (170.8456) | 10 (161.1428) |
| Jul 23, 2022 | Smoke, Wind & Fire Lethbridge | 1 / 20 (328.5484) | 2 (165.1084) | 1 (163.4400) | — | — |
| Jun 3, 2016 | Up In smoke on the Square Lincoln, IL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jun 5, 2015 | Up In Smoke On The Square Lincoln, IL | — | — | — | — | — |