[Updated] 2023 American Royal was a beer and barbecue bash, with some winners shuffled in a kerfuffle
Attendees Walk Around the Infield of the Kansas Speedway at the American Royal. // Photo by Joe Ellett
Update Oct. 30: A full follow-up has just been published here.
Update October 5: The American Royal/KCBS has posted a public apology letter for inaccurate winner results at this year’s event. After a large misstep from the Kansas City Barbecue Society while tallying contest winners at this year’s American Royal, a new overall open contest champion has been crowned.
Update October 7: New overall open contest winner is as follows:
Overall open contest champion – Janky Leg BBQ
All other original open and invitational contest winners have remained the same, according to postings on the American Royal website.
Beer and barbecue were streamlined to the mouths of thousands at the American Royal this past weekend. Over 500 teams, including 13 international and 80 youth teams, competed in the infield of the Kansas Speedway at the World Series of Barbecue.
BBQ Mavens Members Chris Fontaine, Ben Power, and Mario Vazquez at the American Royal. // Photo by Joe Ellett
BBQ Mavens
The BBQ Mavens, made up of members Chris Fontaine, Ben Power, Mario Vazquez, and Scott Hawkins, initial memories of the American Royal root back to the days that they were volunteering at the event.
“We delivered ice and everybody was super accommodating and we’re like ok we can do that,” Fontaine says. “It seems like every guy, your regular Joe can just come out and cook.”
With over 500 teams competing, much work and preparation go into crafting some of the best barbecue in the world. The team usually competes in other bbq competitions and executes practice runs prior to the event to get their feet wet.
“It helps us figure out small things like timing, spacing the smoker, the overall space that you have to work with and it’s really beneficial to do that,” Vazquez says.
“It gets kind of chaotic as we turn in stuff and the more we practice it, the less we forget,” Power says. “I’m looking forward to just doing everything that we want to do.”
The team was hopeful that their preparation would serve them well when their food finally graced the judges’ taste buds, yet win or lose, they continue to come back for the joyful experiences that the event offers.
“What’s nice is it’s such a good community. We see the same few teams here every year, ya know you get to come back and keep making memories,” Fontaine says.
Pancho, The Cisco Kid and Company Members Ed and Fred Rodriguez at the American Royal. // Photo by Joe Ellett
Pancho, The Cisco Kid and Company
Ed and Fred Rodriguez, head team members of Pancho, The Cisco Kid and Company, have deep roots in American Royal events stemming back to when they attended parades as children. After attending events for many years, Fred decided to begin competing when the notion was brought to him by a friend when they were competing in the West Bottoms.
“I said why not? It’s hit or miss, but it’s fun because I helped them,” Fred says. Soon after, Fred got his brother Ed to hop on board the bbq train. “It became a family tradition,” Ed says.
More so than not, bringing family and friends together is also a large portion of their motive for continuing to take part in the American Royal year in and year out. “The Friday night party has really been the height of the barbecue season,” Ed says.
After having placed reserved rank champions for side dishes and first place overall for amateur and professional lamb, positioning them in the top five overall in a previous year’s competition, the family duo continue to carry on their love for slow smoked barbecue.
“We’re always studying how to do it better so we’re just hoping that we’re in the middle of the field instead of the bottom,” Ed says as he chuckles.
Oink, Moo & Cock-A-Doodle Doo Setup at the American Royal. // Photo by Joe Ellett
Oink Moo & Cock-A-Doodle Doo
Sean Moran, head of Oink Moo & Cock-A-Doodle Doo, has competed in the American Royal for over 40 years when they first competed against merely 17 other teams. “It’s just been a blast over the last 40 years,” he says.
This tight knit team of family members claim that some of their favorite memories throughout their four decades competing derive from the family reunion that the Royal serves as. “You see family and friends you don’t usually see. I have a lot of cousins and relatives in from out of town so it’s just a blast,” Moran says.
Having finished third overall a few years after the barbecue competition began in 1980, the team is hopeful to continue their family tradition for years to come as they pass the torch to younger members of the family. “Now we’re passing it on to the next generation and they’re getting into it,” team member Dusty Muckenthaler says.
Bluebird Barbecue Crew Members Jim And Katie Osborn At The American Royal. // Photo by Joe Ellett
Bluebird Barbecue Crew
Marines and mountains were merely roadblocks that out of town teams faced before arriving in eastern Kansas to participate in the world’s largest bbq competition.
Members of Bluebird Barbecue Crew, Jim and Katie Osborn, traveled from Warwick, Queensland, Australia to take part in the bbq battle.
After placing ninth overall in the open and being crowned international champions at last year’s competition, the two had high hopes of continuing their success at the Royal this year. “We really did learn a lot last year so we’re a lot more organized this year,” Jim says. “We’re hoping that helps us to kind of stay on track and we’re just gonna do our best.”
While the stakes are high, the couple are happy and humbled to take part in the competition for a second straight year. “Just being here at the Royal is always a really big highlight for us. It’s just a lot of fun to be a part of it,” Jim says. “Whether we do well or not, it doesn’t matter so much as just having that experience and meeting a lot of people.”
Blind Butt Limitless Members, Shane Howard and Brenda Harrison, at the American Royal. // Photo by Joe Ellett
Blind Butt Limitless
While most out of state teams’ main obstacles centered around travel expenses and equipment, Brenda Harrison and Shane Howard, Co-founders of Blind Butt Limitless out of Littleton, Colorado, relied mostly on their taste buds as they smoked their bbq.
As the first blind team to participate and compete in the American Royal, the two had high hopes of helping end stigmas surrounding blind individuals, and influence other blind barbecue lovers to get behind the smoker.
“We’re using barbecue to show the world and show people like look just because we have different abilities, yes we are disabled, but that doesn’t mean we can’t perform and do things that everyone else can,” Howard says.
After meeting at the Colorado Center for the Blind, and Howard having some experience in cooking barbecue, the duo decided to begin competing together in different barbecue competitions. Howard also has lost his taste and smell senses, leaving the final say to Harrison on whether or not their barbecue is adequate. “I’ve learned so much! I have not been into barbecue at all. Decorating is my thing so for the past year I’ve just been hanging out with Shane and going to barbecues,” Harrison says.
One of the hurdles that this team faces is getting proper equipment transported to their events since they are unable to drive. The two attribute Proud Souls BBQ and Provisions for their receptiveness and willingness in assisting the team. “As long as somebody gets the equipment there, we’re here to show everybody that we can do it just as well as anybody else,” Howard says.
Without the ability to see, the two rely heavily on their preparation and organization skills. “It is extremely important that we try to always stay organized… There’s certain things that we need to always place in certain places so that we’re not spending 20 minutes, 30 minutes looking for it,” Howard says.
This Year’s Winners
Below is a list of winners from all different categories at this year’s American Royal World Series of Barbecue:
Overall open contest champion – Machete Boys BBQ
Overall invitational contest champion – Fire at the End of the Day
Overall champion legends team – Iowa’s Smokey D’s
Overall international team champion and pork ribs open contest champion – Smokin’ Outlaws
Pork ribs invitational contest champion – Hot Cole’s BBQ
Chicken open contest champion – Lazy Bacon BBQ
Chicken invitational contest champion – Gettin’ Basted
Brisket open contest champion – Rio Valley Meat BBQ
Brisket invitational contest champion – Love 2 Q
Pork open contest champion – Wood Hook BBQ
Pork invitational contest champion – Chingon BBQ/Texas Original Charcoal
Turkey open contest champion – Matty Macks
Sausage open contest champion – Angry Jack BBQ
Sides open contest champion – Burnt Finger BBQ
Baked beans open contest champion – One Eyed Pig BBQ
Potatoes open contest champion – Brother of Sweet Smoke Q
Vegetable open contest champion – Pig Tales
Dessert open contest champion – Meat Rushmore BBQ
Kids que contest champion ages 6-10 – Waylon Barker
Kids que contest champion ages 11-15 – Blair Schubert
All money raised this past weekend benefits food and agriculture education, events, and engagement organized by the American Royal.
