They almost always walk
80%
of contests with a top-10 call
A call in 8 of 10 contests
A top-10 category call in 80% of their 10 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.
Bad-Axe-BBQ
Bad-Axe-BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2015 and 2019. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) (). They finished #1684 in the 2019 Master Series Team of the Year standings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Bad Axe BBQ” and “Bad-Axe- BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1497
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 41 invitational or side-series contest not counted
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
Sep 11, 2015
latest Jul 5, 2019 · 3.8 years on the trail
Grand champs
1
0 reserve · wins it all 10% of the time
Category wins
1
5 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
20% of 10 contests
Avg finish
top 50%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
80%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±21.26
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 162.21 · weakest Brisket (150.63)
Road miles
1,214
across 9 mapped stops · furthest 380 mi
Schedule strength
49%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1563)
Purse competed for
$13K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
619.33 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
318.86 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 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)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #1684 (106 pts) | #1585 (121 pts) | #1758 (106 pts) | #1726 (111 pts) | #1718 (106 pts) |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Bad-Axe-BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
Bad-Axe-BBQ has 4 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 102 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,334 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
Fewer contests behind them than Bad-Axe-BBQ has cooked, 5 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#3,335 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1497
They turned up 6 years after Bad-Axe-BBQ did, first appearing in 2021.
⚔ Compare careers#3,343 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1509
Level with Bad-Axe-BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,322 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 3 years before Bad-Axe-BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,347 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 3 years before Bad-Axe-BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,350 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1497
Fewer contests behind them than Bad-Axe-BBQ has cooked, 6 to 10, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 166.8688 | 149.6684 | 158.75 | top 49% |
| Pork Ribs | 10 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 178.2972 | 146.2400 | 162.21 | top 40% |
| Pork | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 168.0228 | 143.3940 | 155.61 | top 75% |
| Brisket | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 162.2744 | 143.9544 | 150.63 | top 76% |
“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) | 3 | 1 | top 59% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 36% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic City Jazz, Blues & BBQ Festival | 2 | 7 | 0 | top 85% | Jul 5, 2019 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2019
2 contests
Contests a season
1.4
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
8 of 10 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
10 entries · 1 win · 6 calls
Opponents faced
151
finished ahead 102 times, behind 63
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20193 milestones
- Peak power rating (1509) Red, White, and BBQ Day 1
- 10th tracked contest Ceramic City Jazz, Blues & BBQ Festival
- Most recent contest Ceramic City Jazz, Blues & BBQ Festival
20182 milestones
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)178.2972 Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
20151 milestone
- Career-best overall score649.1316 Windy City BBQ Classic
—6 milestones
- First tracked contest Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- First call Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- First overall top-10 Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- First overall podium Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- First Grand Championship Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score333.0972 Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +8.4 | Red, White, and BBQ Day 1 | May 24, 2019 |
| +3.7 | Windy City BBQ Classic | Sep 11, 2015 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.2 | Ceramic City Jazz, Blues & BBQ Festival | Jul 5, 2019 |
| -2.8 | Ceramic City Jazz, Blues, & BBQ Festival | Jul 6, 2018 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 6% | 92.5% | 92.5% |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 65% | 88.6% | 86% |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 70% | 84.4% | 84.4% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 43% | 90.2% | 90.2% |
| 2014 | 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 5, 2019 | Ceramic City Jazz, Blues & BBQ Festival 🏅 East Liverpool, OH | 11 / 11 (600.9716) | 9 (155.3600) | 11 (146.2400) | 10 (155.4172) | 11 (143.9544) |
| May 24, 2019 | Red, White, and BBQ Day 1 🏅 Westmont, IL | 12 / 40 (318.8572) | 7 (161.7144) | 17 (157.1428) | — | — |
| Sep 22, 2018 | Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) Blue Island, IL | — | 8 (155.9656) | 1 (178.2972) | — | — |
| Jul 6, 2018 | Ceramic City Jazz, Blues, & BBQ Festival East Liverpool, OH | 7 / 10 (607.8740) | 8 (149.6684) | 2 (169.1428) | 10 (143.3940) | 9 (145.6688) |
| Sep 23, 2017 | Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) Blue Island, IL | — | — | 8 (157.1200) | — | — |
| Sep 24, 2016 | Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITORS SERIES) Blue Island, IL | — | — | 7 (159.9772) | — | — |
| Sep 26, 2015 | Barbeque on the Hill (Competitor's Series) Blue Island, IL | — | 3 (166.8688) | 2 (164) | — | — |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Windy City BBQ Classic Chicago, IL | 26 / 61 (649.1316) | 39 (160.5716) | 37 (158.2628) | 21 (168.0228) | 24 (162.2744) |
| Sep 27, 2014 | BBQ on the Hill Competitor's Series (RIBS ONLY) Blue Island, IL | — | — | 11 (159.9772) | — | — |
| — | Barbeque on the Hill (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated BlueIsland, IL | 1 / 16 (333.0972) | 4 (161.1200) | 2 (171.9772) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.