29 Barbeque Wins First GBA Grand at Hitachi Walton Co BBQ Festival
Barry Spayberry and 29 Barbeque took first place honors in both Pulled Pork and Ribs, but it was the Rib entry that edged out Pulled Pork box for highest score in the Finals rounds to win the Grand Championship at the Hitachi Walton Co BBQ Festival. Twenty five teams turned out for the first year event with many of the teams competing in the GBA for the first time.
Grand Champion – 29 Barbeque
Reserve Champions – Just Blowing Smoke
Just Blowing Smoke was the runner up in both Loin and Pulled Pork as well as 7th in Ribs to claim the Reserve Championship for the second contest in a row.
Kerry Sparks and Lawdawg BBQ recorded a perfect 600 score in the Loin preliminary round to lead the way into the finals rounds. They followed that up with the top entry in the finals round to take first place. Just Blowing Smoke was second. Third place went to Forget Me Not BBQ with 29 Barbeque taking 4th place. Smoking Armadillo was 5th, 4 K’s BBQ was 6th and Simply Q was 7th place. Eighth through 10th places went to DCR BBQ, Smokin’ Suwanee Sweetmeats and Porch Light respectively.
29 Barbeque led the way in Pulled Pork with Just Blowing Smoke once again in 2nd place. Porkinator took home 3rd place. Hootie Q came in 4th place. Smokin’ Suwanee Sweetmeats was 0.3 of a point better than Hitachi for 5th place. Southern Hog won the tiebreaker for 7th place over Simply Q. Lawdawg BBQ claimed 9th place with Georgia Smoke BBQ claiming 10th.
First Place Loin – LawDawg BBQ
In Ribs, it was 29 Barbeque once again at the top. Porkinator edged out Smokin’ Armadillo for second place by just 0.2 of a point. Smokin’ Suwanee Sweetmeats completed their strong showing with a 4th place finish in the category. 4 K’s BBQ took 5th with DCR BBQ taking 6th place. Just Blowing Smoke came in 7th. Old Henry’s BBQ took 8th place by winning the tiebreaker over Porch Light. Sharbite BBQ rounded out the top 10.
Next up for the GBA is the Durhamtown Spring Fling & BBQ Contest on March 20-21. Three great contests are on tap for April in the GBA: Hawkinsville’s Smokin’ the Track on April 3-4; Bikes Blues & BBQ in Douglas on April 10-11 and Smokin’ Pork N Butts in Jackson on April 17-18.
Full Results:
| LOIN | PULLED PORK | RIBS | ||||||||
| 1 | 595.9 | LawDawg BBQ | 1 | 595.7 | 29 Barbeque | 1 | 598.2 | 29 Barbeque | ||
| 2 | 595.1 | Just Blowing Smoke | 2 | 594.6 | Just Blowing Smoke | 2 | 592 | Porkinator | ||
| 3 | 591 | Forget Me Not BBQ | 3 | 591.7 | Porkinator | 3 | 591.8 | Smokin Armadillo | ||
| 4 | 589.4 | 29 Barbeque | 4 | 591.1 | Hootie Q | 4 | 592.1 | Smokin’ Suwanee Sweatmeats | ||
| 5 | 589.1 | Smokin Armadillo | 5 | 590.5 | Smokin’ Suwanee Sweatmeats | 5 | 591.9 | 4K’s BBQ | ||
| 6 | 587.2 | 4K’s BBQ | 6 | 590.2 | Hitachi | 6 | 591.5 | DCR BBQ | ||
| 7 | 586.1 | Simply Q | 7 | 588.5 | Southern Hog | 7 | 588.2 | Just Blowing Smoke | ||
| 8 | 585.6 | DCR BBQ | 8 | 588.5 | Simply Q | 8 | 586.6 | Old Henry’s BBQ | ||
| 9 | 585.2 | Smokin’ Suwanee Sweatmeats | 9 | 588.2 | LawDawg BBQ | 9 | 586.6 | Porch Light | ||
| 10 | 580.9 | Porch Light | 10 | 587.8 | Georgia Smoke BBQ | 10 | 582.9 | Shark Bite BBQ | ||
| 11 | 580.3 | Southern Hog | 11 | 587 | Smokin J’s Barbeque | 11 | 582.5 | BCD | ||
| 12 | 578.3 | Hitachi | 12 | 586.2 | Senational Pigs | 12 | 581 | Rollin’ Smoke Competition Que | ||
| 13 | 577.4 | Georgia Smoke BBQ | 13 | 583.3 | DCR BBQ | 13 | 580.9 | Southern Hog | ||
| 14 | 575.9 | Old Henry’s BBQ | 14 | 582 | Maxus Porkamus | 14 | 580.4 | Hootie Q | ||
| 15 | 572.4 | Robison’s BBQ | 15 | 582 | Shark Bite BBQ | 15 | 580 | Forget Me Not BBQ | ||
| 16 | 572.3 | Senational Pigs | 16 | 581.3 | Smokin Armadillo | 16 | 575.6 | Robison’s BBQ | ||
| 17 | 570.8 | Maxus Porkamus | 17 | 579.1 | 4K’s BBQ | 17 | 575 | Tiretoter’s BBQ | ||
| 18 | 569.7 | Porkinator | 18 | 577.2 | Rollin’ Smoke Competition Que | 18 | 572.4 | LawDawg BBQ | ||
| 19 | 569.1 | Rollin’ Smoke Competition Que | 19 | 576.4 | Tiretoter’s BBQ | 19 | 572.2 | Senational Pigs | ||
| 20 | 568.5 | Shark Bite BBQ | 20 | 575 | Robison’s BBQ | 20 | 571.5 | Simply Q | ||
| 21 | 567.5 | JT’s Smoking Butts | 21 | 573.7 | Forget Me Not BBQ | 21 | 571.1 | Georgia Smoke BBQ | ||
| 22 | 566.2 | Hootie Q | 22 | 571.1 | Old Henry’s BBQ | 22 | 570.4 | Smokin J’s Barbeque | ||
| 23 | 564.1 | Tiretoter’s BBQ | 23 | 564.5 | JT’s Smoking Butts | 23 | 568.8 | Maxus Porkamus | ||
| 24 | 563.5 | Smokin J’s Barbeque | 24 | 563.5 | BCD | 24 | 564.5 | Hitachi | ||
| 25 | 563.2 | BCD | 25 | 558 | Porch Light | 25 | 558.2 | JT’s Smoking Butts |
| Reserve Scores | Loin | Pulled | Ribs | Total | ||
| 1 | Just Blowing Smoke | 596.4 | 599.7 | 588.2 | 1784.3 | |
| 2 | 29 Barbeque | 589.4 | 596.1 | 595.8 | 1781.3 | |
| 3 | Smokin Armadillo | 589.1 | 581.3 | 600 | 1770.4 | |
| 4 | Smokin’ Suwanee Sweatmeats | 585.2 | 590.5 | 592.1 | 1767.8 | |
| 5 | Porkinator | 569.7 | 594.9 | 596.7 | 1761.3 | |
| 6 | LawDawg BBQ | 600 | 588.2 | 572.4 | 1760.6 | |
| 7 | DCR BBQ | 585.6 | 583.3 | 591.5 | 1760.4 | |
| 8 | 4K’s BBQ | 587.2 | 579.1 | 591.9 | 1758.2 | |
| 9 | Southern Hog | 580.3 | 588.51 | 580.9 | 1749.71 | |
| 10 | Forget Me Not BBQ | 593.1 | 573.7 | 580 | 1746.8 | |
| 11 | Simply Q | 586.1 | 588.5 | 571.5 | 1746.1 | |
| 12 | Hootie Q | 566.2 | 591.1 | 580.4 | 1737.7 | |
| 13 | Georgia Smoke BBQ | 577.4 | 587.8 | 571.1 | 1736.3 | |
| 14 | Old Henry’s BBQ | 575.9 | 571.1 | 586.61 | 1733.61 | |
| 15 | Shark Bite BBQ | 568.5 | 582 | 582.9 | 1733.4 | |
| 16 | Hitachi | 578.3 | 590.2 | 564.5 | 1733 | |
| 17 | Senational Pigs | 572.3 | 586.2 | 572.2 | 1730.7 | |
| 18 | Rollin’ Smoke Competition Que | 569.1 | 577.2 | 581 | 1727.3 | |
| 19 | Porch Light | 580.9 | 558 | 586.6 | 1725.5 | |
| 20 | Robison’s BBQ | 572.4 | 575 | 575.6 | 1723 | |
| 21 | Maxus Porkamus | 570.8 | 582 | 568.8 | 1721.6 | |
| 22 | Smokin J’s Barbeque | 563.5 | 587 | 570.4 | 1720.9 | |
| 23 | Tiretoter’s BBQ | 564.1 | 576.4 | 575 | 1715.5 | |
| 24 | BCD | 563.2 | 563.5 | 582.5 | 1709.2 | |
| 25 | JT’s Smoking Butts | 567.5 | 564.5 | 558.2 | 1690.2 |