SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS

SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS is a competition barbecue team with 28 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2017. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 49 at the Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show (2013), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #672 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#672

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1646

peak 1646 · rated over 28 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Feb 8, 2013

latest Aug 18, 2017 · 4.5 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#319

Master 2014 · every season

Grand champs

1 reserve

Category wins

11 podiums

Overall top-10s

36% of 28 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 34%

overall standings

Best overall

693.6688 / 720

Master · Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show

Perfect 180s

2 🔥

Current form

677.38 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 670.80 (+6.58)

Walk rate

71%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

180 🔥

Pork · Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show

Consistency

±13.80

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 168.70 · weakest Brisket (165.59)

Road miles

4,893

across 28 mapped stops · furthest 691 mi

Schedule strength

48%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1563)

Master avg

670.80 / 720

28 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (12 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

The heartbreaker

4.5828 points from the title

Came within 4.5828 points of the Grand Championship at Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show (Aug 9, 2013).

Perfect scores on the board

2 perfect 180s

2 perfect 180s in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, across 2 different meats.

Pork ×1
Brisket ×1

Happy hunting ground

Top 8% average finish here

Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge is their spot: an average finish in the top 8% across 2 visits.

2 visits
best finish 5th
average top 8%

They almost always walk

71% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 20 of 28 contests

A top-10 category call in 71% of their 28 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

693.6688 career-best overall

96.3% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 693.6688 at Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show — 96.3% of a perfect 720.

Master
Aug 9, 2013

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

SMOKING BUTT HEADS has finished one call ahead of SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

14–5 behind in the head-to-head

SAUCED! BBQ TEAM ahead in 74% of their meetings

SAUCED! BBQ TEAM has come out ahead in 14 of their 19 shared contests.

Show 5 more storylines

A strong matchup

9–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 82% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BS PITMEISTERS in 9 of their 11 shared contests.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Killer B's BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

A May team

Top 22% average finish in May

Something about May: average finish in the top 22% across 3 contests, versus top 34% the rest of the year.

3 May contests
top 34% the rest of the year

The long haul

4,893 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 4,893 miles across 28 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 691 miles to Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Championship.

28 mapped stops
furthest 691 mi

The metronome

±1.92% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±1.92% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 93.2% of a perfect score
28 contests

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
2017 ↗	Master	#987 (344 pts)	#1260 (249 pts)	#1044 (344 pts)	#807 (499 pts)	#1020 (344 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#728 (517 pts)	#905 (407 pts)	#816 (487 pts)	#843 (467 pts)	#717 (557 pts)
2015 ↗	Master	#629 (580 pts)	#852 (425 pts)	#654 (595 pts)	#559 (695 pts)	#1032 (315 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#319 (1,123 pts)	#320 (1,088 pts)	#212 (1,413 pts)	#188 (1,443 pts)	#396 (948 pts)
2013 ↗	Master	#337 (917 pts)	#401 (772 pts)	#361 (847 pts)	#349 (872 pts)	#421 (742 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS, each with one reason worth a look.

SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM

#677 of the rated field

1645 power rating

Contests: 84
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 29%
Peak: 1674

2–1 in 3 shared contests (67% to SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS)

These two have cooked 3 of the same contests — SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS ahead 2–1 — so there's a record behind this pairing and not just a matching number.

rated over 81 contests
last seen May 1, 2026

⚔ Head-to-head

BOOTIES BBQ

#670 of the rated field

1646 power rating

Contests: 39
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 49%
Peak: 1648

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 29 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 29 contests
last seen Oct 17, 2024

⚔ Compare careers

PEPPER MONKEY BBQ

#668 of the rated field

1646 power rating

Contests: 24
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 50%
Peak: 1646

Careers of much the same size, 24 contests to 28, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 24 contests
last seen Sep 4, 2015

⚔ Compare careers

Say My Name BBQ

#675 of the rated field

1646 power rating

Contests: 41
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 37%
Peak: 1666

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 41 contests, alongside a 37% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 37 contests
last seen Aug 15, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

PORKERSTARS

#671 of the rated field

1646 power rating

Contests: 39
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 28%
Peak: 1656

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.

rated over 39 contests
last seen Oct 28, 2022

⚔ Compare careers

BLAZEN BBQ

#673 of the rated field

1646 power rating

Contests: 24
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 46%
Peak: 1646

Level with SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 18 contests
last seen Sep 22, 2017

⚔ Compare careers

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SMOKING BUTT HEADS	19	9	10	47%	⚔ compare
THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA	19	6	13	32%	⚔ compare
SAUCED! BBQ TEAM	19	5	14	26%	⚔ compare
PICKIN' PORKERS	18	12	6	67%	⚔ compare
MIDNIGHT BURN	18	9	9	50%	⚔ compare
TWO OLD MEN AND A GRILL	16	8	8	50%	⚔ compare
Bald Hawg BBQ	16	8	8	50%	⚔ compare
SMOKE THIS	16	7	9	44%	⚔ compare
CONTAGIOUS Q	15	9	6	60%	⚔ compare
Killer B's BBQ	14	4	10	29%	⚔ compare
MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	13	9	4	69%	⚔ compare
WHO CARES BBQ	13	8	5	62%	⚔ compare
ROCKY TOP BARBEQUE	13	2	11	15%	⚔ compare
REDNECK SCIENTIFIC	12	4	8	33%	⚔ compare
BS PITMEISTERS	11	9	2	82%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	28	7	0	0	175.4172	152.5144	168.08	top 44%
Pork Ribs	28	12	1	3	178.8572	158.2288	168.70	top 33%
Pork	28	10	1	6	180 🔥	151.9996	168.43	top 36%
Brisket	28	5	1	2	180 🔥	151.9196	165.59	top 46%

“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
Medium (20–39)	12	0	top 46%
Large (40+)	16	0	top 25%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
NC	19	top 30%
GA	4	top 46%
SC	3	top 29%
AR	1	top 38%
AL	1	top 86%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	4	6	top 34%	Aug 18, 2017
Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	3	2	top 41%	Aug 7, 2015
Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival	3	4	top 19%	Jun 12, 2015
Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge	2	5	top 8%	May 8, 2015

More numbers

Busiest season 2014 10 contests

Contests a season 5.6 across 5 seasons in the data

Most contests held in NC 19 of 28 contests · 5 states in all

Contests visited 20 4 of them more than once

Opponents faced 579 finished ahead 961 times, behind 393

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20172 milestones

Aug 18 Peak power rating (1646) Sam's Club National BBQ Tour
Aug 18 Most recent contest Sam's Club National BBQ Tour

20161 milestone

Sep 30 25th tracked contest Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Championship

20141 milestone

Apr 25 10th tracked contest BBQ Capital Cookoff

20139 milestones

Feb 8 First tracked contest Georgia BBQ Championship Throwdown (GBC Qualifier)
Jun 7 First call Sam's Club National BBQ Tour
Jun 14 First category win (Brisket) Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival
Jun 14 First overall top-10 Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival
Jun 14 First perfect 180 (Brisket) Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival
Jun 14 First overall past 90% of a perfect score683.4284 Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival
Aug 9 First overall podium Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show
Aug 9 First Reserve Championship Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show
Aug 9 Career-best overall score693.6688 Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+15.9	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	Aug 9, 2013
+15.8	Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival	Jun 14, 2013
+12.4	Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge	May 9, 2014
+12.4	Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge	May 8, 2015
+11.9	17th Annual Firehouse BBQ Cook-off	Apr 18, 2014

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-10.5	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	Feb 28, 2014
-7	Georgia BBQ Championship Throwdown (GBC Qualifier)	Feb 8, 2013
-5.4	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	Aug 7, 2015
-2.7	Jiggy With the Piggy	May 5, 2017
-1	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	Aug 8, 2014

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2017	3	1	0	100%	top 36%	95.4%	93.1%
2016	4	2	0	75%	top 32%	96.1%	94.7%
2015	5	2	0	40%	top 31%	95.2%	94.1%
2014	10	3	1	70%	top 38%	94%	92.6%
2013	6	2	2	83%	top 33%	96.3%	92.3%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Aug 18, 2017	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Asheville, NC	12 / 29 (670.7540)	24 (163.4056)	10 (169.1200)	3 (171.9656)	12 (166.2628)
Jul 14, 2017	The Georgia Smithfield Guinea Pig Cummings, GA	7 / 41 (686.7884)	11 (172)	8 (171.4172)	4 (175.4056)	19 (167.9656)
May 5, 2017	Jiggy With the Piggy Kannapolis, NC	37 / 75 (652.9720)	55 (159.9544)	58 (158.2288)	41 (162.8000)	10 (171.9888)
Sep 30, 2016	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Championship Bentonville, AR	19 / 50 (691.8968)	33 (173.1084)	22 (171.9772)	27 (171.4056)	14 (175.4056)
Aug 26, 2016	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour (Regional) N. Charleston, SC	8 / 30 (684.5028)	9 (173.7028)	4 (176.5944)	14 (170.2628)	22 (163.9428)
Jun 3, 2016	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Asheville, NC	6 / 27 (678.8000)	21 (164)	11 (169.1316)	3 (172.5484)	2 (173.1200)
Feb 5, 2016	Brasstown Valley's BBQ Throwdown (GBC Qualifier)- TEAMS FULL & JUDGES FULL Young Harris, GA	15 / 35 (671.8628)	10 (173.1200)	20 (163.9544)	23 (165.6684)	13 (169.1200)
Sep 18, 2015	Tilley Harley-Davidson Biker Blues BBQ Rally and BBQ Classic Salisbury, NC	17 / 59 (671.3260)	24 (167.9888)	19 (166.2744)	13 (171.9772)	33 (165.0856)
Aug 7, 2015	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	23 / 36 (674.7312)	18 (169.1428)	27 (165.0972)	11 (171.9656)	24 (168.5256)
Jun 12, 2015	Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival Tryon, NC	22 / 78 (672.4916)	36 (167.3944)	23 (168.5372)	22 (167.4516)	24 (169.1084)
Jun 5, 2015	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Asheville, NC	8 / 30 (682.7312)	10 (171.9656)	3 (177.7028)	14 (169.6800)	23 (163.3828)
May 8, 2015	Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge Kannapolis, NC	5 / 74 (685.0972)	22 (170.2744)	9 (172)	2 (176)	25 (166.8228)
Oct 31, 2014	Hog Happnin' Shelby, NC	25 / 61 (669.0172)	33 (166.2400)	49 (158.2400)	4 (174.2628)	16 (170.2744)
Sep 19, 2014	Tilley Harley-Davidson Biker Blues BBQ Rally Salisbury, NC	17 / 64 (671.9660)	8 (175.4172)	8 (172.5944)	56 (155.9544)	19 (168)
Aug 29, 2014	Beach Boogie and Barbeque Myrtle Beach, SC	8 / 38 (674.7656)	26 (163.9428)	1 (178.8572)	22 (163.9428)	9 (168.0228)
Aug 8, 2014	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Frankllin, NC	22 / 39 (668.4572)	8 (174.2628)	22 (165.6800)	15 (170.2628)	34 (158.2516)
Jun 13, 2014	Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival Tryon, NC	19 / 73 (672.5028)	15 (172.5600)	17 (170.2512)	51 (161.6916)	26 (168)
May 9, 2014	Jiggy with the Piggy BBQ Challenge Kannapolis, NC	7 / 80 (675.9432)	68 (152.5144)	4 (174.2860)	2 (177.7028)	10 (171.4400)
Apr 25, 2014	BBQ Capital Cookoff Lexington, NC	28 / 62 (645.6232)	32 (162.8344)	22 (163.4172)	29 (162.2516)	36 (157.1200)
Apr 18, 2014	17th Annual Firehouse BBQ Cook-off Kings Mountain, NC	8 / 55 (677.0744)	10 (173.1200)	9 (170.8572)	4 (172)	29 (161.0972)
Feb 28, 2014	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Daphne, AL	24 / 28 (649.5424)	18 (165.6916)	18 (161.6456)	5 (170.2856)	27 (151.9196)
Feb 7, 2014	Brasstown Valley's BBQ Throwdown (GBC Qualifier) Young Harris, GA	14 / 28 (665.0744)	14 (168.5600)	11 (168.5716)	11 (167.9772)	19 (159.9656)
Aug 23, 2013	Sooie't Relief BBQ Benefit Greer, SC	16 / 41 (658.8000)	15 (164)	10 (167.4516)	19 (165.6800)	18 (161.6684)
Aug 9, 2013	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	2 / 49 (693.6688)	5 (174.2972)	14 (171.9772)	1 (180)	21 (167.3944)
Jul 26, 2013	WNC Barbeque Festival Maggie Valley, NC	14 / 48 (667.9544)	11 (170.8344)	10 (169.1772)	31 (161.0972)	19 (166.8456)
Jun 14, 2013	Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival Tryon, NC	4 / 97 (683.4284)	43 (162.8570)	21 (166.2858)	3 (174.2856)	1 (180)
Jun 7, 2013	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Asheville, NC	12 / 26 (645.7138)	12 (162.8568)	3 (171.4286)	16 (159.4286)	20 (151.9998)
Feb 8, 2013	Georgia BBQ Championship Throwdown (GBC Qualifier) Young Harris, GA	24 / 33 (638.8566)	12 (170.2858)	15 (162.8572)	29 (151.9996)	23 (153.7140)

SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Master avg

Storylines (12 found in their record)

The heartbreaker

Perfect scores on the board

Happy hunting ground

They almost always walk

High-water mark

The one to beat

A tough matchup

A strong matchup

Looking over their shoulder

A May team

The long haul

The metronome

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)