Meet the Field: Every Team Qualified for the BBQ World Cup (So Far)

Last updated October 2026. 77 teams in, 23 seats still open.

One million dollars. One winner. One hundred seats at the table, and every one of them has to be earned. The teams below have done it, taking Grand Champion, Reserve Grand Champion, or a qualifying finish at BBQ World Cup qualifiers across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, Croatia, Australia, South Africa, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

This page is the running roster. Every time a qualifier crowns its winner, new names land here. Bookmark it, and watch the field fill.

1. LC BBQ 🇺🇸

Phil Breeden · Grand Champion, Smoke Riders

Out of Bandera, Texas, Phil Breeden has stacked up more than 100 Grand and Reserve Grand Championship titles and over 50 first-place brisket calls, then turned that pedigree into the LC BBQ seasoning line. "Just having this million dollar contest pop up in the world of barbecue is exciting for barbecue in itself," he says.

2. Smooth & SmOakey Salad Dodgers 🇦🇺

Mitch Barnes · Grand Champion, Meatstock Toowoomba

Born at the local abattoirs in Oakey, Queensland, where five mates decided to cook low and slow, the Salad Dodgers legacy is carried on today by the core trio of Mitch, Justin, and Jess. They take the food seriously, not themselves. By their own admission, win or lose, they throw the best after-party on the field.

3. Jimmy Brisket 🇦🇺

James "Jimmy" Cameron · Grand Champion, Meatstock Gippsland

Jimmy got hooked watching BBQ Pitmasters in 2017, walked the grounds at Meatstock Melbourne, and told his wife they'd be competing the next year. They were, and he took first place brisket in his very first contest. The family team from Mount Evelyn, Victoria now runs a catering business and their own rub line.

4. Dusty Que 🇦🇺

Jeff Griffiths · Grand Champion, Meatstock Sydney

The Adelaide crew is a familiar name on the Australian circuit and a regular on Meatstock's biggest stages. Winning Sydney put a third Australian flag in the BBQ World Cup field, and Dusty Que has the trophies to say they belong.

5. BBQ Hot Yard 🇭🇷

Davor Šušković · Reserve Grand Champion, Twin Smoke BBQ Competition

BBQ Hot Yard is the first competition barbecue team to come out of Croatia. Davor Šušković started in 2023 in Velika Gorica without any knowledge or training, by the team's own telling, and today he mentors the other Croatian teams, runs masterclasses and workshops, and competes all around Europe. Reserve Grand Champion at the Twin Smoke BBQ Competition put the Croatian flag in the BBQ World Cup field.

6. Click & Q 🇧🇪

Joris Nies · Grand Champion, Belgisch Barbecue Weekend

Belgium's ticket ran through Boom, and Click & Q claimed it. Joris Nies and his crew now carry Belgian barbecue onto the sport's biggest stage, with a shot at one million dollars waiting in Las Vegas.

7. B.R.A. Barbecue Team 🇧🇷

Lucas Cesar · Grand Champion, Bárbaros BBQ

Lucas Cesar is one of Brazil's most decorated competition pitmasters and spends his time off the trail teaching competition strategy to the next generation of Brazilian cooks. He earned his seat at Bárbaros BBQ, the largest barbecue gathering in Brazil.

8. Mean Moe's 🇨🇦

Mike Magill · Grand Champion, La Classique BBQ Competition

From Innisfil, Ontario, Mike Magill and teammate Nick O'Donnell cook hot and fast on drum smokers and have collected five KCBS Grand Championships along the way. "Even in the winter, I shovel a path to my charcoal barbecue," Mike says. That kind of commitment wins in any weather.

9. Hatch's BBQ 🇺🇸

Chris Hatcher · Grand Champion, CBA World Championship

Barbecue runs three generations deep for Chris Hatcher. His grandfather cooked competitions in the 1980s and ran Houston BBQ restaurants Chris grew up in, and now Chris is teaching his own boys to chase the dream. His favorite saying: "Good BBQ travels."

10. INHOGNITO 🇺🇸

Danny Luera · Reserve Grand Champion, CBA World Championship

Danny learned to stack coals from his dad at age 12, found competition barbecue at a Rio Grande Valley fajita cookoff in 2000, won it, and never looked back. More than 500,000 driving miles and 25 years later, barbecue is how he supports his family.

11. Big O's BBQ 🇺🇸

Steve Ohler · 3rd Overall, CBA World Championship

Steve started out cooking with friends, walked a few stages, and caught the addiction for good. A run at the million would fast-track the rub and sauce line he has been building toward.

12. Chef Pa'La Raza 🇲🇽

Alan Mauricio Mendoza Flores · Grand Champion, San Antonio Rodeo

The Monterrey crew cooks for the love of it. "We truly enjoy what we do, especially when it's with friends," the team says. They bring Mexico's flag and Nuevo León fire to the field.

13. Past Our Prime 🇺🇸

Tony Gonzalez · Reserve Grand Champion, San Antonio Rodeo

A Laredo team of good friends who pooled their individual skills to see what they could do together. For them it is the challenge of competing with the best, and finding calm in the middle of the pressure.

14. All Jacked Up 🇺🇸

Thomas Page · Grand Champion, Houston Rodeo World Championship

The Magnolia, Texas cook entered his first contest in 2014 and spent years grinding as a one-man team. When a friend offered him a spot at the Houston Rodeo cookoff, he jumped, and this year he walked away Overall Grand Champion at one of the biggest cookoffs on earth.

15. Heath Riles BBQ 🇺🇸

Heath Riles · Grand Champion, Memphis in May

Back-to-back Grand Champion at the Memphis in May World Championship, the first team to repeat there in 42 years, with more than 80 career Grand Championships and products on shelves in roughly 20,000 stores worldwide. One of the biggest names in barbecue is in the field.

16. Kings BBQ Team 🇺🇸

Ryan King · Grand Champion, KCBS World Championship (Open)

Jacksonville's Ryan King cooks solo about 95 percent of the time and has turned 72 KCBS contests into 9 Grand Championships. "If you put everything you got into it, mentally, physically, emotionally, and you learn how to lose, you'll start learning how to win," he says.

17. Scuffletown Smokers 🇺🇸

Alby Ransom · Reserve Grand Champion, KCBS World Championship (Open)

Newburgh, Indiana's Alby Ransom is a Grand Champion of the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational, and he founded the team with his uncle after volunteering at that very event. One of the most credentialed cooks in the entire field.

18. Wag's Backwoods BBQ 🇺🇸

Jason Wagner · Grand Champion, KCBS World Championship (Invitational)

The Osage, Iowa pitmaster is fresh off winning the American Royal Open, known as the World Series of Barbecue, and he backed it up by taking the KCBS World Invitational. Momentum is real, and Wag's has it.

19. Phantom Smoke & BBQ 🇨🇦

Mathew Bonville · Reserve Grand Champion, KCBS World Championship (Invitational)

A Canadian Army veteran with two tours in Afghanistan, Mathew cooks out of Kipling, Saskatchewan under a logo his wife sketched, with twin boys already competing in kids que. "I like the competition of it, I like trying to figure out the puzzle," he says.

20. God's Country BBQ 🇺🇸

AJ Garza · Grand Champion, Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge

AJ grew up watching his father barbecue nearly every weekend, feeding friends and family and making memories. Friends talked him into his first cookoff in 2019, an 8th place brisket call lit the fire, and he credits everything he knows to his dad.

21. Uncle Jesse's BBQ 🇺🇸

Nate Benson · Reserve Grand Champion, Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge

The American Fork, Utah cook got his start when his mom put him on family dinner duty at age 12, and he has been refining his craft ever since. "The million dollar is great, but the competition is what really fuels me," Nate says.

22. Fred Vegas Smokers 🇺🇸

Chris Salsberry · Grand Champion, Lakeland Pigfest

Named for Fredericksburg, Virginia's hometown nickname, Chris taught himself through books, videos, and message boards, and now competes across the country with his wife. His take on the circuit: "This is just expensive camping."

23. Iowa's Smokey D's 🇺🇸

Darren Warth · Reserve Grand Champion, Lakeland Pigfest

One of the winningest teams in competition barbecue history, Darren and Sherry Warth have been collecting hardware since their first contest in 2002. Darren puts the stakes plainly: "The World Cup is the first time that anybody will ever get rich on barbecue."

24. Rollin Smoke BBQ 🇺🇸

Cody Howard · 3rd Overall, Lakeland Pigfest

Cody's first competition came through work, and a third-place ribs call on his first try set the hook. He learned the craft cooking KCBS contests alongside his dad, then took what he was taught and found his own way.

25. Los Buzzards 🇺🇸

Eloy "EJ" De Leon · Grand Champion, Smokin on the Rio

The husband-and-wife team of Eloy and Debi De Leon out of Weslaco, Texas holds a stack of Texas State Championships and more than 300 career walks. They won the hometown event Eloy has cooked for over two decades, and they are the first team from the Rio Grande Valley to punch a ticket to Vegas.

26. Si Quema BBQ 🇺🇸

Bobbyrey Delgado · Reserve Grand Champion, Smokin on the Rio

The youngest pitmaster in the field when he qualified, San Antonio's Bobbyrey Delgado competes alongside his mom and dad. Vegas will be his first trip. "I never went to Vegas, so it'll be my first time, and I'm gonna go get to cook, so it'll be even better."

27. AMP Cookers 🇺🇸

Michelle Martinez · Grand Champion, Central Texas BBQ Roundup

Houston's Michelle Martinez walked Reserve Grand Champion at her very first cookoff in 2020 and has been chasing calls ever since, more than 50 contests of them as a solo cook. She is the first woman to qualify for the BBQ World Cup, and in her words, "This isn't just a sport for men, it's for everyone."

28. Razorracks 🇺🇸

Drew Davis · Grand Champion, Smoke on the Shores

A husband-and-wife team from north central Arkansas, healthcare workers during the week and pitmasters on the weekends. Thirteen years of trophies, checks, and bragging rights later, their sights are set on the big one.

29. Kith n Kin 🇺🇸

David Goan · Reserve Grand Champion, Smoke on the Shores

The name means friends and family, which is exactly how David and Joelle Goan cook: a husband-and-wife duo from Collierville, Tennessee who split the pit work right down the middle. Their motto on the circuit: "May your name be heard last, but right before mine."

30. Blind Fox BBQ 🇺🇸

Joe Ricklefs · Grand Champion, Smoke in the Spring

Joe and teammate Adam started Blind Fox out of Lees Summit, Missouri to push their limits, with the emphasis on having fun. Three years of cooking together, and they are already beating the best.

31. Slap's BBQ 🇺🇸

Joe Pearce · Reserve Grand Champion, Smoke in the Spring

Brothers Mike and Joe Pearce turned the Squeal Like a Pig competition team into Slap's BBQ, one of Kansas City's most beloved barbecue restaurants, and Joe was inducted into the KCBS Hall of Fame in 2026. "Barbecue for my brother and I started as a dream, and from that dream it turned into a complete obsession."

32. Smokin' Hoggz BBQ 🇺🇸

Bill Gillespie · Grand Champion, Grand American BBQ World Championship

The Massachusetts legend has won the Jack Daniel's World BBQ Championship and the American Royal Invitational, collected 45 Grand Championships, authored four cookbooks, and entered the KCBS Hall of Fame in 2026. Few resumes in barbecue run deeper.

33. Chunky BBQ 🇺🇸

John Shier · Reserve Grand Champion, Grand American BBQ World Championship

The Pennsylvania team is coming off a historic 2024 season: KCBS Team of the Year and American Royal Open Grand Champion in the same year. Chunky BBQ is one of the hottest teams on the trail, and now they are in the field.

34. Porky Butts BBQ 🇺🇸

Blane Hunter · Grand Champion, Scheel's Home & Hardware ND BBQ Championship

A 2016 KCBS Team of the Year and 2017 American Royal Open World Champion, Blane Hunter parlayed 22 Grand Championships into Porky Butts BBQ, his acclaimed Omaha restaurant. Competition chops, restaurant polish, and a seat in the field.

35. Six Butt BBQ 🇺🇸

Mark Lee · Reserve Grand Champion, Scheel's Home & Hardware ND BBQ Championship

Mark Lee's Upper Midwest crew made it a North Dakota double, claiming the second ticket out of the Scheel's weekend in Minot. They arrive in the field the way every team should: by out-cooking a stage full of contenders.

36. Burnt Trees BBQ 🇺🇸

Nick Holman · Grand Champion, Minnesota in May

Nick and Shannon Holman of Minot, North Dakota grew backyard rib burns into a KCBS force with multiple Grand Championships and two trips to cook the Jack Daniel's World Championship. He brings the fire, she brings the focus.

37. Smokin' Suckers 🇺🇸

Jason Waite · Reserve Grand Champion, Minnesota in May

Jason and Cherlynn Waite of Oskaloosa, Iowa went from a hometown charity cookoff to three straight Iowa BBQ Society Backyard Team of the Year titles, then carried it into the KCBS Master Series with 17 top-ten finishes in 17 contests. "If you're lookin' it ain't cookin'."

38. Slo-Mo-Que 🇺🇸

William "Boogie" Whitfield · Grand Champion, Fly-In-Pig

Born and raised in St. Louis, now cooking at the base of Mount Rainier in Eatonville, Washington, Boogie runs the pit with his wife and kids on the team. "Every barbecue meant family to me," he says. Now the family is headed to Vegas.

39. Crooked Pigs 🇺🇸

Matt Hanson · Reserve Grand Champion, Fly-In-Pig

Matt Hanson's crew grabbed the second ticket out of Fly-In-Pig and strengthened the Pacific Northwest's presence in the field. Every region cooks a little different, and the Northwest will be well represented in Vegas.

40. Titans of BBQ 🇺🇸

Brian Oatway · Grand Champion, DC BBQ Battle

The husband-and-wife team of Brian and Jennifer Oatway from East Hartford, Connecticut swept the chicken and brisket categories on their way to the Grand Championship at the Giant National Capital BBQ Battle in Washington, D.C. They cook for the love of learning, and the friendships along the way.

41. Sweet Belly's BBQ 🇺🇸

Tim Harley · Reserve Grand Champion, DC BBQ Battle

Tim Harley drives a school bus in Bowie, Maryland and cooks Sweet Belly's as a hobby out of a 6x12 trailer, alongside his wife Shannon and daughter Tamiya, the "brisket whisperer" who can call a top-five box before turn-in. He got hooked watching BBQ Pitmasters, and this year he judged contests instead of chasing wins, to learn what the tables really wanted. It paid off with Reserve Grand Champion at the DC Barbecue Battle. "Anytime you see my name up there," he says of his brisket, "them came from Costco."

42. Cocamoke Smoke BBQ 🇺🇸

Cody Turner · Grand Champion, South Carolina Festival of Discovery

Cody Turner cooks Cocamoke Smoke BBQ out of Pensacola, Florida, and he picked the perfect stage to break through. He took Grand Champion at the South Carolina Festival of Discovery in Greenwood, one of the summer's deepest fields at 75 teams, out-cooking the lot across four categories to book his ticket to Vegas.

43. Maya Jane BBQ Co. 🇺🇸

Mark Wetherell · Reserve Grand Champion, South Carolina Festival of Discovery

Mark Wetherell built Maya Jane BBQ Co. in Evans, Georgia on family, friendship, and a steady climb through the Southeast circuit. That work showed at the South Carolina Festival of Discovery, where the team took Reserve Grand Champion across a 75-team field, second only to Cocamoke, putting two teams from one of the season's biggest contests on the road to Vegas.

44. Gettin' Basted 🇺🇸

Brad Leighninger · Grand Champion, No Smoke, No Glory

Branson, Missouri's Brad Leighninger is one of the most recognized names in competition barbecue, a fixture near the top of the leaderboard and a familiar face to anyone who follows the sport. Gettin' Basted added another Grand Champion at No Smoke, No Glory, and with it, a seat in the field.

45. B's Que 🇺🇸

Brian Kennish · Grand Champion, Smoke on the Rail

Brian Kennish is a Philadelphia guy through and through, an Eagles fan who bleeds green, now running a power plant near Richmond, Virginia. He started B's Que in 2012 cooking a contest or two a year while raising three kids, then floored it, ramping to 13 contests a season. It came together at Smoke on the Rail, a last-minute entry he chose over a family wedding, where B's Que won the two-day overall and vaulted to number one in the national KCBS Team of the Year race on the same weekend.

46. ElJefe Smoke 🇺🇸

Jeff Kulacz · Reserve Grand Champion, Smoke on the Rail

Jeff Kulacz runs ElJefe Smoke out of New England, cooking KCBS contests between Bedford, New Hampshire and Westborough, Massachusetts. His seat came down to almost nothing: a Reserve Grand Champion at Smoke on the Rail decided by 0.62 points over third, the sliver of a score between watching and heading to the BBQ World Cup.

47. Genade Shoppe 🇿🇦

Hanroe Erasmus · Grand Champion, Flames for Africa

Hanroe Erasmus and Genade Shoppe put South Africa in the field for the first time, and they did it on consistency. First-place calls in both Pork and Chicken carried them to Grand Champion at the Flames for Africa Lifespace Invitational Cup in Pretoria, past a 15-team field by just over a point. South Africa is in the chase.

48. La Brigade du Grill 🇫🇷

Nicolas Chaves · Grand Champion, France BBQ Masters

Nicolas Chaves and teammate Aymeric cook as La Brigade du Grill, and their win made France a BBQ World Cup nation for the first time. They took Grand Champion at the France BBQ Masters in Colmar, and now there is a French flag in the field.

49. Triple H BBQ 🇺🇸

Bill Heyen

The husband-and-wife team of Andrea and Bill Heyen started Triple H BBQ out of Gillespie, Illinois in 2015, born from a shared love of camping, cooking, and a serious competitive streak. They were crowned World Champions at the 2021 American Royal Invitational and finished third in the 2022 KCBS Team of the Year race. A Grand Championship at the 83-team BBQ & Fly-In on the River is the latest line on the resume, and it books their ticket to Vegas.

50. BBQ Maestros 🇺🇸

Scott Regal

Scott Regal's BBQ Maestros are a young team out of Indianapolis, a few years into their competition run and already cooking with the best of them. They announced themselves at the BBQ & Fly-In on the River, taking Reserve Grand Champion out of one of the deepest fields of the season, 83 teams strong, to earn their place in the field.

51. Old Virginia Smoke 🇺🇸

Luke Darnell

Luke Darnell runs Old Virginia Smoke, a decorated KCBS campaigner with a Chicken Team of the Year on his mantel. He took Grand Champion at Kora Kares for Kids in Hiram, Maine, topping a 51-team Master Series field by better than five points. A cook this seasoned belongs on the biggest stage.

52. Smoke Sisters 🇺🇸

Sabrina Swanson

Smoke Sisters are two teenagers out of Massachusetts who grew up around New England barbecue, both of them daughters of competition cooks. They cut their teeth in kids que, then texted each other one day about running a team of their own and entered their first contest in the Catskills. In their magical pink cowboy hats, they took Reserve Grand Champion at Kora Kares for Kids and made a little history.

53. Big GC's BBQ 🇦🇺

Grant Coleman

Grant and Fiona Coleman cook as Big GC's BBQ out of Toowoomba, Queensland, and they earned their seat the hard way. They won Grand Champion at the Vegas Showdown Beer & BBQ Classic by a single point, 1,406 to 1,405, taking it on the strength of their texture score and putting another Australian flag in the field.

54. Big Smoke BBQ 🇦🇺

Daniel Barrett

Big Smoke BBQ started in a Melbourne backyard, next to Daniel Barrett's very first smoker, and grew into an obsession built on hard work and mateship. That climb reached the Vegas Showdown Beer & BBQ Classic, where a third-place finish in a race with just two points covering the top three, and the higher finishers already qualified, was enough to punch the ticket.

55. Cook Cartel 🇳🇿

Steve Cook

Cook Cartel are a family team from the west side of Auckland, brothers Steven and Michael cooking alongside their old man, Brian. They started in 2020 after a trip to Meatstock Auckland and have since stacked up five New Zealand national titles and a World Championship in dessert at the Jack Daniel's Invitational. Their win at King of the Mountain in New Plymouth makes New Zealand a BBQ World Cup nation for the first time.

56. Crossed Bones BBQ 🇬🇧

Matt Lord

Crossed Bones BBQ started in 2022 as chef Matt Lord's passion project in Bristol, England, three mates cooking for great BBQ and good times. Lord roped in his friends Lee Brooking and Ryan Day, and the crew has spent the years since chasing that mix of serious cooking and never taking themselves too seriously. When they took Grand Champion at the Beefstock Barbecue Championships, they became the first team from the United Kingdom to earn a spot in the BBQ World Cup.

57. Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ 🇨🇦

Rob Reinhardt

Rob Reinhardt picked up barbecue as a hobby in 2000 and turned it into a life. Today he and his wife Jacy run Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ out of Regina, Saskatchewan, along with a food truck, a catering company and Canada's BBQ School, and the team has stacked up 31 Grand Championships across three countries and more than 350 awards along the way. Grand Champion at BBQ on the Bow Canada in Calgary adds the one line that was missing: a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

58. Bigg Smoak BBQ 🇨🇦

Robert Turner

Rob Turner's road to the pits started with a friend's photo of a pork butt that looked, to him, like a charred meteorite. Curiosity took him from backyard cooks to a Grand Champion finish at his first contest in Niverville in 2014, and on to the dream he named back then: Bigg Smoak BBQ, the 150-seat smokehouse he and Brigitte Laurin-Turner run in Steinbach, Manitoba. Reserve Grand Champion at BBQ on the Bow Canada puts one of Manitoba's leading teams on the road to Las Vegas.

59. Cynical BBQ 🇺🇸

Craig & Jennifer Yeszin

Craig and Jennifer Yeszin cook as Cynical BBQ, a Northern California team that has spent the season at the top of the California BBQ Association Team of the Year standings. At Meat and Taters in Idaho they won Grand Champion across a 52-team field without a single category win, their best call a third in chicken. The margin over second was 0.0232 points, and it booked a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

60. Meat Candy Q 🇺🇸

Dave & Shirin Mara

Dave and Shirin Mara cook as Meat Candy Q out of San Diego, a husband-and-wife team that has made the California circuit home turf and stacked up California BBQ Association Team of the Year honors along the way. At Meat and Taters in Idaho the top three finished within 0.53 points across 52 teams. With the Reserve Grand Champion already holding a BBQ World Cup seat, third overall rolled the spot down to Meat Candy Q.

61. 1Bite Stand 🇺🇸

Bradley Friedel

1Bite Stand is one of the newest teams in the field. Bradley Friedel started the team in 2024 out of Jerseyville, Illinois, and barely two years in he was standing on the biggest stage in Southern Illinois. At Praise the Lard in Murphysboro he took Grand Champion on the KCBS side over a 71-team field, with a second-place brisket along the way, and earned a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

62. BBQ Bus 🇺🇸

Brian Dwyer

Few teams know Murphysboro like the BBQ Bus. Brian Dwyer's crew won the KCBS side of Praise the Lard in 2021 and 2024, took the brisket category in both of those years, and finished in the top ten five years running. In 2026 the win came on the Memphis Barbecue Network side of the same contest, where Grand Champion carried a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

63. J&C BBQ 🇺🇸

Christina & Joseph Poteet

What started as a small food trailer in Lebanon, Oregon in 2016 has grown into an award-winning restaurant, a catering company and a barbecue team that competes across the country. Husband and wife Joe and Christina Poteet cook with teammate Ryan Brown, and their approach is simple: "obsess over the details, respect the meat, and never stop pushing the craft forward." Grand Champion at BBQ Brews and Brats in Enumclaw, Washington sends their Oregon pride to the BBQ World Cup.

64. Moose & Gator BBQ 🇺🇸

Blake Maresh

Moose & Gator BBQ started with two friends, Gator (Blake Maresh) and Moose (Brian), chasing great barbecue around the Pacific Northwest. It grew into a family affair, with Lady Gator keeping things on track and Swampy handling logistics, and the Bonney Lake, Washington team has been cooking KCBS and PNWBA contests since 2021. Reserve Grand Champion at BBQ Brews and Brats in Enumclaw puts them in the BBQ World Cup, ready to represent the PNW with, in their words, "plenty of smoke, flavor, and fun."

65. Bárbaros Gastronomia na Brasa 🇧🇷

Vinícius Aguiar

It began in a bar, when five friends united by food and fire decided to form a team. Captain Vinícius Aguiar worked as a culinary producer on more than 15 seasons of MasterChef Brasil, and the team takes its name from teammate Guga's Festival Bárbaros, which turned 10 in 2026. They scored a perfect 180 in brisket at their first KCBS contest, then won ribs and took third in brisket at Bárbaros BBQ in Americana to become the second team from Brazil in the BBQ World Cup.

66. Munny's Stove 🇺🇸

Chase Muninger

Chase Muninger cooks as Munny's Stove out of Wichita, Kansas, and serves in the Kansas Air National Guard when he is not at a contest. He runs a hybrid setup, using different kinds of smokers for different meats, and it has been stacking up KCBS Grand Champion finishes since 2024. At the American Royal Invitational he won Pork and finished Reserve Grand Champion in a 158-team field, 0.0116 points off the top, to take a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

67. Petie's Smokin Pits BBQ 🇺🇸

Petie's Smokin Pits BBQ is a competition team with its own line of rub and sauce and a familiar name on the American Royal team list. In 2026 the team finished sixth overall in the 158-team American Royal Invitational. With four of the five teams ahead of them already qualified, the seat at the BBQ World Cup rolled down to Petie's.

68. Smoke Central BBQ 🇺🇸

Jason Singletary

Smoke Central BBQ comes out of Lake City, South Carolina, where pitmaster Jason Singletary has built a reputation as one of the most consistent winners on the Carolina circuit. He took that form to Kansas City and finished seventh overall in the 158-team American Royal Invitational, 0.0116 points behind sixth. With four of the teams ahead already qualified, the finish carried a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

69. Shiggin & Grinnin 🇺🇸

Jeff Vanderlinde

Shiggin & Grinnin know what it takes to win in Kansas City. The Minnesota team of Jeff Vanderlinde, Derek Schansberg and Ted Moonen has an American Royal Open Grand Champion title to its name, and it is still finishing near the top of the sport's biggest fields. Eighth overall at the 2026 American Royal Invitational, in a field of 158, was enough to claim the last of that contest's four seats at the BBQ World Cup.

70. Smokey Bey's Barbecue 🇺🇸

Charles Bey

Charles Bey has had quite a 2026. In August the Liberty, Missouri pitmaster beat 43 others to win Kansas City's Made for KC BBQ title, a prize that includes a restaurant spot in the Kansas City airport terminal, expected to open in 2027. Six weeks later Smokey Bey's Barbecue won Grand Champion at the American Royal Open, topping a 360-team field, and added a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

71. Pop A Top Cookers 🇺🇸

Pop A Top Cookers went to one of the largest contests in competition barbecue and came within two points of winning it. The team finished Reserve Grand Champion at the 2026 American Royal Open, second in a field of 360, and that finish earned a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

72. Local Yokels BBQ 🇺🇸

Brad & Jocelyn Cox

Local Yokels BBQ started as a backyard team without a name in Crossville, Illinois, a town of 700 people. When the village asked what to call them, the answer was that they were "just Local Yokels," and the name stuck. Brad and Jocelyn Cox have competed since 2017 with their girls along for the ride, and fourth overall at the American Royal Open, in a field of 360, put the family in the BBQ World Cup.

73. Rooters-N-Tooters TN 🇺🇸

Paul & Lynn Keltner

Paul and Lynn Keltner are a husband-and-wife team from Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, with a long record at the sport's biggest contests. Rooters-N-Tooters won Grand Champion at the American Royal Invitational in 2025. Back in Kansas City in 2026 they won Brisket and finished fifth overall at the American Royal Open, good for a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

74. Crossed Rifles BBQ 🇺🇸

Chris Davis

Crossed Rifles BBQ is the Texas team of Chris Davis, a Marine Corps veteran who has been winning on the KCBS circuit for years, including a Grand Champion finish at the Red Raiders Challenge in Lubbock. At the 2026 American Royal Open he finished sixth overall in a field of 360, 0.0228 points clear of seventh, and took the last of the contest's five seats at the BBQ World Cup.

75. SmellaQue 🇨🇦

Janice Smella

Janice Smella learned to cook barbecue in Calgary because nobody else in town was making it. "We bought a smoker out of Texas more than 10 years ago," she told CBC News. "There is no barbecue like this in town at that time, so we better learn to make it ourselves." SmellaQue has since won four Canadian national titles, and Janice still calls it a hobby. In October 2026 the team won Grand Champion at The Jack in Lynchburg, Tennessee, beating 98 other teams to become the first Canadian team to win it and take a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

76. Muttley Crew BBQ 🇺🇸

Shannon Turner

Muttley Crew BBQ is Shannon Turner's team, cooked with her husband, Brian, out of Apex, North Carolina. They have competed since 2014, mostly on the KCBS circuit across the Southeast. At The Jack in Lynchburg, Tennessee, they finished third overall in a field of 99, just 0.0344 points out of second. With the runner-up already qualified, the seat at the BBQ World Cup went to Muttley Crew.

77. Janky Leg BBQ 🇺🇸

Jordan Kirkpatrick

Janky Leg BBQ is Jordan Kirkpatrick's team from Benton, Illinois, and it leads the 2026 KCBS Team of the Year standings. At The Jack in Lynchburg, Tennessee, the team finished fourth overall in a field of 99. With one of the teams ahead of them already qualified, that finish carried a seat at the BBQ World Cup.

The Field Is Still Filling

Twenty-three seats remain, with qualifiers firing across the calendar and the KCBS and CBA Teams of the Year still to be crowned. Every event is a door. Every Grand Champion walks through it.

The race is on. One million dollars. One winner.