10/05/2026
Long Post!
I don’t even know if I’m able to formulate anything for you all to understand but here goes nothing.
This past weekend was one hell of a ride! From the less than ideal spot on Wednesday evening leading to mud-a-thon Thursday and part of Friday, to walking at the world’s largest bbq competition! It’s been one for my record books for sure.
Wednesday load in was not good. It was mud, it was nasty to deal with and I was 😠 but American Royal World Series of Barbecue staff were there to make things work as best as possible. We agreed to move to the back row in hopes of the original spot be able to get ready for the weekend. Needless to say it did not happen and I was told a heavy generator needed to be pulled out of where that area was when I left Wednesday.
Thursday we all had rain everywhere. End..
Friday the outside rows were soft but the overall lot drained well and things proceeded to get better as Mother Nature was being nice. Had a lot to get done this day, picked up my boxes, got some merch and dealt with some nagging nerve and sciatica pain. During the visits with teams I was hoping they weren’t too busy so I wouldn’t get told to leave 😆. I secretly used our visits to help with the pain levels and tried to shig some bbq knowledge. Once this complex gets all the way finished it will no doubt be even more epic!
Saturday was the invitational and since I didn’t win anything to qualify I used this as a fine tuning day. That included a practice brisket flat and a practice set of ribs. Both had great flavor but I didn’t nail their tenderness. Spoke with a few teams including Poppin Smoke BBQ to discuss how I could improve. They gave me their thoughts and I took some notes back with me to the site to contemplate with but before that we chatted about what we would do if we heard our names called 1x to winning the whole thing!
Sunday morning came shortly after shut eye and I hit the ground ready to go. 🔥 the Outlaw BBQ Smokers Patio XL and Ringo and got them purring at their marks of 285-290 where they settled in at most of the day! Had the hot, clean, flavorful smoke rolling with Royal Oak Charcoal lump and Gourmet Wood Products, Inc. pecan sticks and chunks in the pits all day! Didn’t have to mess with any dampers or stacks as these pits are the real deal!
I need to trim down the amount of protein I cook for each category, not only will it lower costs but it will help with smoker space and flow. I had Abby Best be nice enough to handle the box runner responsibility and she appreciated how calm, cool and collected I was on chicken… I blacked out after that category and second guessed my cooked proteins the rest of the way. When you overthink everything like I do, it makes bbq that much more difficult…This dilemma ended up leading to Abby running the last few boxes and when appearance is a thing its less than ideal to put that pressure on that person. I appreciate you more than you know!
When the sausage box closed and she took off for the barn for turn ins (5min or so walk) I’m pretty sure my body just 💩 out on me. Everything started to cramp, twitch and lock up but I kept pushing. Just told myself over and over that you need to be there if you get a call. No matter how bad you are hurting you will not forgive yourself for missing out and I’m glad that I made it.
Awards show came and they hit the sides and dessert winners before moving to the final 5 proteins. Chicken was up first. It’s been the most consistent protein this year for me. I felt like the judges have been liking the darker looking chicken more lately so that’s what I turned in. Top 25 total walk, top 3 on stage. It started off and all I was saying to myself was “one time, one time, one ****ing time” 25-20 included chicken fried bbq who I was parked next to in lot d this weekend!. Humble man, nice wife and they invited me right into their trailer this weekend, Bill even blessed my brisket wrap bottle Saturday before shut eye.!
19th place chicken was next up and my name was called “HevyQue BBQ” and I swear nobody had a higher vertical jump in those barns than I did at that time, threw my arms up in the air and walked out to the area with the rest of my bbq family and friends! I cried like a bloody wussy standing there. I had done it! I appreciate Weekend Bum BBQ getting my picture taken and congrats to him on a top 25 overall in the open! The rest of the categories came and went with no other walks. That’s fine, because in only my second Royal comp ever I pulled something outta my @$$ that I’ll never forget!
Still have some kinks to work out on Ribs all around and box building for pork but outside that it was a solid cook.
Results out of 360 teams from across the 🌎!
19th Place Chicken 177.71 Mister Brisket, Inc. , Loot N' B***y BBQ gold star chicken rub and Fergolicious BBQ Sweet Rubs were used along with Chicken Fried BBQ Game Over
212th Ribs 169.12
197th Pork 169.17
126th Brisket 171.42
60th Sausage 171.98
Grand Total of 687.42 and 113th overall!
Major improvement overall from last years numbers of
Chicken 287th 166.23
Ribs 235th 167.97
Pork 310th 163.97
Brisket 151st 169.70
Turkey 97th 169.70
667.86 Total (260th overall)
I ❤️ bbq life! Maybe one day it will be my actual life!
