A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
BIG POPPA SMOKERS ahead in 100% of their meetings
BIG POPPA SMOKERS has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Smokin' Ray's BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1519
peak 1519 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
2019-05-03
latest 2022-04-29
Grand champs
1
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
of 7 contests
Avg finish
top 29%
overall standings
Best overall
330.9144 / 360
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
310.66
last 3 Backyard vs avg 310.66 (+0.00)
Walk rate
57%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±16.57
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 159.85 · weakest Pork Ribs (149.89)
Road miles
2,166
mi across 7 mapped stops · furthest 1863 mi
Schedule strength
26%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1536)
Purse competed for
$35K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 3 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
310.66 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 1 GC
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (2 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.
The comeback
4.7 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 4.7 years, then back at Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (2018-05-04).
- last seen 2013-08-16
- back 2018-05-04
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.
Smokin' Ray's BBQ 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 85 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.
#2518 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2523 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1526
No shared contest yet.
Level with Smokin' Ray's BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2514 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2524 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1519
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2507 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 100%
- Peak
- 1522
No shared contest yet.
5 straight overall top-10s says this rating is a moving target.
⚔ Head-to-head#2522 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1524
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 7 years before Smokin' Ray's BBQ'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 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 170.3316 | 155.3712 | 159.85 | top 19% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 160.5828 | 133.7148 | 149.89 | top 37% |
| Pork | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| Brisket | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 1 | top 7% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 41% |
The story so far (19 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3 yrs
2019-05-03 → 2022-04-29
Busiest season
2019
3 contests · 1 GC
Contests a season
1.8
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
CA
6 of 7 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 1 win · 4 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 159.85 · weakest Pork Ribs (149.89)
Walk rate
57%
a top-10 call in 4 of 7 contests
Overall top-10 rate
29%
2 of 7 contests
Wins it all
14%
1 Grand Championship · 0 reserve
First title
2019-05-03
Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
Backyard average
310.66
out of 360 · 3 contests · 1 GC
Opponents faced
142
92–72 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
2,166
7 mapped stops · furthest 1,863 mi
Schedule strength
1536
average field rating faced — tougher than 26% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$35,200
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 3 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
4.7 yrs
2013-08-16 → 2018-05-04
Power rating
1519
peak 1519 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest Stand By Your Grill
- 2019
- First call Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- First category win (Chicken) Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- First overall podium Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- First Grand Championship Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score330.9144 Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- Career-best overall score330.9144 Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)170.3316 Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY)
- 2022
- Peak power rating (1519) 3rd Annual Lodi BeerFest & BBQ Championship
- Most recent contest 3rd Annual Lodi BeerFest & BBQ Championship
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.9 | Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY) | 2019-05-03 |
| +10.7 | 3rd Annual Lodi BeerFest & BBQ Championship | 2022-04-29 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -7.5 | Clayton BBQ Cook-off | 2019-07-12 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 17% | 86.3% | 86.3% |
| 2019 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 36% | 91.9% | 86.3% |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-04-29 | 3rd Annual Lodi BeerFest & BBQ Championship 🏅 Lodi, CA | 5 / 29 (310.7540) | 5 (155.3712) | 4 (155.3828) | — | — |
| 2019-07-12 | Clayton BBQ Cook-off 🏅 Clayton, CA | 20 / 31 (290.3204) | 10 (156.6056) | 22 (133.7148) | — | — |
| 2019-06-21 | Silicon Valley BBQ Championship 🏅 unrated Santa Clara, CA | 14 (308.4912) | 7 (157.1084) | — | — | — |
| 2019-05-03 | Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship (BACK YARD ONLY) Elk Grove, CA | 1 / 15 (330.9144) | 1 (170.3316) | 4 (160.5828) | — | — |
| 2018-06-22 | Silicon Valley BBQ Championship Santa Clara, CA | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2018-05-04 | Elk Grove Western Festival and BBQ Championship Elk Grove, CA | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2013-08-16 | Stand By Your Grill Fulton, MS | — | — | — | — | — |