Rescue Smokers Race to Win at Hawkinsville Smokin’ the Track
The heavy rains & muddy conditions forced a shutdown of the harness racing at Hawkinsville Smokin’ the Track. Most of the Georgia Barbecue Association’s (GBA) teams, however, were tucked in out of the weather under the shelter of the horse arena. It came down to a photo finish as just two tenths of a point separated the top two entries of the day. Robby Royal & Rescue Smoker won the Grand Championship when his final round Rib entry scored a 599 out of a possible 600 to slip past Brad Sweet & 92 BBQ’s score of 598.8 in Pulled Pork.
Grand Champion – Rescue Smokers
92 BBQ made finals in both Loin & Pulled Pork and added a 6th place in Ribs to take the Reserve Grand Championship.
Reserve Grand Champion – 92 BBQ
Rescue Smokers topped the Loin category. Forget Me Not BBQ & 92 BBQ tallied identical 593.3 scores in finals to tie for 2nd place. Forget Me Know won on the first tiebreaker – taste – to claim the runner-up spot. Fourth place went to We Want Que with Real South BBQ taking 5th place. Southern Hogs camin 6th, Rub Shakers Que came in 7th & Johnson Boys BBQ came in 8th place. In 9th place was Holy Smokes and in 10th place was Kelvin’s BBQ.
Ragin’ Smoke BBQ
92 BBQ had the best Pulled Pork entry of the day. Bubba Grills took 2nd place. Ragin’ Smoke BBQ made finals for the first time in the GBA & finished in 3rd place. Smokin’ AJ’s was back after a long layoff & took 4th place. Holy Smokes came in 5th with Real South BBQ just 0.3 back in 6th and another 0.3 back was Southern Hogs in 7th place. Kelvin’s BBQ, Just Blowing Smoke & Johnson Boys BBQ finished 8th thru 10th respectively.
The Grand Championship Ribs of Rescue Smokers took first place honors. Smokin’ AJ’s came in 2dn with Southern Hogs in 3rd place. The 4th place call went to H&J Cooking Team. Kelvin’s BBQ walked for the third time of the day, this time for 5th place. 92 BBQ completed their strong cook with the 6th place call. Ragin’ Smoke BBQ took 7th place; Holy Smokes took 8th & Old Henry’s BBQ claimed 9th place. Just Blowing Smoke rounded out the top 10.
The GBA congratulates Smokin’ the Track contest committee for going above & beyond in harsh conditions and delivered a well run contest. The GBA next heads to Jackson for Smoking Pork “N” Butts on April 15-16.
Full Results (note: 1st, 2nd & 3rd place scores are from finals rounds. All other scores are from preliminary rounds)
| LOIN | PULLED PORK | RIBS | ||||||||
| 1 | 598.7 | Rescue Smokers | 1 | 598.8 | 92 BBQ | 1 | 599 | Rescue Smokers | ||
| 2 | 593.3 | Forget Me Not BBQ | 2 | 593.7 | Bubba Grills | 2 | 593.4 | Smokin AJ’s | ||
| 3 | 593.3 | 92 BBQ | 3 | 591.2 | Ragin Smoke BBQ | 3 | 592 | Southern Hogs | ||
| 4 | 594.8 | We Want Que | 4 | 596.1 | Smokin AJ’s | 4 | 595.1 | H & J Cooking Team | ||
| 5 | 594.5 | Real South BBQ | 5 | 594.8 | Holy Smokes | 5 | 594.8 | Kelvin’s BBQ | ||
| 6 | 591.1 | Southern Hogs | 6 | 594.5 | Real South BBQ | 6 | 590.2 | 92 BBQ | ||
| 7 | 590.8 | Rub Shakers Que | 7 | 594.2 | Southern Hogs | 7 | 587.91 | Ragin Smoke BBQ | ||
| 8 | 590.3 | Johnson Boys BBQ | 8 | 591.2 | Kelvin’s BBQ | 8 | 587.9 | Holy Smokes | ||
| 9 | 589.8 | Holy Smokes | 9 | 590.5 | Just Blowin Smoke | 9 | 587.5 | Old Henry’s | ||
| 10 | 588 | Kelvin’s BBQ | 10 | 589.9 | Johnson Boys BBQ | 10 | 586.2 | Just Blowin Smoke | ||
| 11 | 583.2 | Dixie Davis Cooks | 11 | 589.6 | Rub Shakers Que | 11 | 582.6 | Real South BBQ | ||
| 12 | 582.3 | Just Blowin Smoke | 12 | 586.8 | Rescue Smokers | 12 | 582 | Bubba Grills | ||
| 13 | 580.2 | Smokin AJ’s | 13 | 582.3 | We Want Que | 13 | 581 | Johnson Boys BBQ | ||
| 14 | 575.6 | H & J Cooking Team | 14 | 581.1 | H & J Cooking Team | 14 | 579 | Rub Shakers Que | ||
| 15 | 572 | Ragin Smoke BBQ | 15 | 578 | Forget Me Not BBQ | 15 | 570.5 | Forget Me Not BBQ | ||
| 16 | 571.1 | Bubba Grills | 16 | 575.5 | Old Henry’s | 16 | 568.4 | We Want Que | ||
| 17 | 564.4 | Old Henry’s | 17 | 570.9 | Dixie Davis Cooks | 17 | 564.5 | Ocmulgee Smoke | ||
| 18 | 559.6 | Ocmulgee Smoke | 18 | 569 | Ocmulgee Smoke | 18 | 562.6 | Dixie Davis Cooks |
Reserve Champion Scores:
| Loin | Pulled | Ribs | Total | |||
| 1 | 92 BBQ | 599.1 | 596.4 | 590.2 | 1785.7 | |
| 2 | Southern Hogs | 591.1 | 594.2 | 595.4 | 1780.7 | |
| 3 | Rescue Smokers | 598.2 | 586.8 | 595.7 | 1780.7 | |
| 4 | Kelvin’s BBQ | 588.0 | 591.2 | 594.8 | 1774.0 | |
| 5 | Smokin AJ’s | 580.2 | 596.1 | 596.4 | 1772.7 | |
| 6 | Holy Smokes | 589.8 | 594.8 | 587.9 | 1772.5 | |
| 7 | Real South BBQ | 594.5 | 594.5 | 582.6 | 1771.6 | |
| 8 | Johnson Boys BBQ | 590.3 | 589.9 | 581.0 | 1761.2 | |
| 9 | Rub Shakers Que | 590.8 | 589.6 | 579.0 | 1759.4 | |
| 10 | Just Blowin Smoke | 582.3 | 590.5 | 586.2 | 1759.0 | |
| 11 | Ragin Smoke BBQ | 572.0 | 598.2 | 587.9 | 1758.1 | |
| 12 | Bubba Grills | 571.1 | 598.8 | 582.0 | 1751.9 | |
| 13 | H & J Cooking Team | 575.6 | 581.1 | 595.1 | 1751.8 | |
| 14 | Forget Me Not BBQ | 599.1 | 578.0 | 570.5 | 1747.6 | |
| 15 | We Want Que | 594.8 | 582.3 | 568.4 | 1745.5 | |
| 16 | Old Henry’s | 564.4 | 575.5 | 587.5 | 1727.4 | |
| 17 | Dixie Davis Cooks | 583.2 | 570.9 | 562.6 | 1716.7 | |
| 18 | Ocmulgee Smoke | 559.6 | 569.0 | 564.5 | 1693.1 |