The comeback
8.2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 8.2 years, then back at Speed & Feed BBQ Festival at Darlington Raceway (May 15, 2026).
- last seen Mar 23, 2018
- back May 15, 2026
Pit Commanders
Pit Commanders is a competition barbecue team with 7 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record in 2026. Their best overall finish is 23rd of 26 at the Speed & Feed BBQ Festival at Darlington Raceway (2026). They finished #1061 in the 2026 Master Series Team of the Year standings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1492
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 1
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
May 15, 2026
latest May 15, 2026
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 7 contests
Avg finish
top 88%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 164.03 · weakest Chicken (158.25)
Road miles
829
across 7 mapped stops · furthest 671 mi
Purse competed for
$10K
listed at 1 contest — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Still inside their first twelve months: see what a first season usually looks like.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #1061 (61 pts) | #1427 (51 pts) | #1183 (66 pts) | #1073 (71 pts) | #1099 (61 pts) |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Pit Commanders, each with one reason worth a look.
Pit Commanders has 1 rated contest, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 142 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,576 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1512
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,550 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1492
Level with Pit Commanders on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,527 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1493
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 5 years before Pit Commanders's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,569 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
They were already cooking in 2019, 7 years before Pit Commanders's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,530 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1507
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Pit Commanders's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,548 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1507
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Pit Commanders's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158.2512 | 158.2512 | 158.25 | top 96% |
| Pork Ribs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.0344 | 164.0344 | 164.03 | top 85% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.2628 | 162.2628 | 162.26 | top 81% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160 | 160 | 160 | top 88% |
“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.
More numbers
Busiest season
2017
2 contests
Contests a season
1.2
across 6 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
LA
5 of 7 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
1
a different one every time
Opponents faced
25
finished ahead 3 times, behind 22
Longest layoff
8.2 yrs
Mar 23, 2018 → May 15, 2026
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20263 milestones
- Career-best overall score644.5484 Speed & Feed BBQ Festival at Darlington Raceway
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)164.0344 Speed & Feed BBQ Festival at Darlington Raceway
- Most recent contest Speed & Feed BBQ Festival at Darlington Raceway
20141 milestone
- First tracked contest Hammond BBQ
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 88% | 89.5% | 89.5% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 2026 | Speed & Feed BBQ Festival at Darlington Raceway 🏅 Darlington, SC | 23 / 26 (644.5484) | 25 (158.2512) | 22 (164.0344) | 21 (162.2628) | 23 (160) |
| Mar 23, 2018 | Hammond BBQ Hammond, LA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 28, 2017 | Hog Wild BBQ Cookoff and Family Festival Brookhaven, MS | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mar 24, 2017 | Hammond BBQ Hammond, LA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mar 25, 2016 | Hamond BBQ Hammond, LA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mar 27, 2015 | Smokin Blues & BBQ Hammond, LA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mar 21, 2014 | Hammond BBQ Hammond, LA | — | — | — | — | — |