Page 20 - April 2022 Barbecue News Magazine

From Rookie of the Year to Super Bowl LVI
CBBQA 2020/2021 Rookie of the Year team received an invitation for a once in a lifetime experience. See what Nick Barrack of 5th Gear BBQ had to say about the experience.
Melanie Price, Editor, Smokin’ Times
The California BBQ Association’s (CBBQA) Rookie of the Year for 2020/2021, Nick Barrick of 5th Gear BBQ, is forging his trail
in the barbecue world both on an o昀 the competition circuit. The Fontana, California native, along with his wife Shelley, were invited to cook alongside other volunteers at the Player’s Tailgate
Party for Super Bowl LVI. The goal of the event,
which was hosted at the Hollywood Park Casino just steps from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, was to raise awareness for Operation BBQ Relief (OBR).
OBR, which was founded in May 2011 in response to a need for tornado relief e昀orts in Joplin, Missouri, gained notoriety when its founder Stan Hays was named a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2017. OBR delivers the healing power of BBQ in times of need, feeding 昀rst responders and communities a昀ected by natural disasters along with year-round e昀orts to 昀ght hunger through various programs.
“I was very 昀attered and thankful to be chosen,” says Barrick after receiving a call from Robert Stou昀er of OBR. Very soon after earning the title of Rookie of the
CBBQA Rookie of the Year winner, Nick Barrick of 5th Gear BBQ, ran the massive pits during helping out Operation BBQ Relief at the Super Bowl LVI Tailgate Party.
Year for CBBQA, Nick was invited to help run the pits and cook ribs for the party goers alongside a team of OBR volunteers.
Nick began his cooking journey on a gas grill given to him by his parents. In his own words, he was “always to intimidated to cook”. Like many BBQ cooks on the circuit, he was inspired by the Pitmaster television series and began diving deeper into his craft. Nick learned by trial and error “failing miserably multiple times,” but he persisted and entered a few backyard events held close to home before 昀nally testing his skills at his 昀rst professional contest in 2019 at the Big Bear Grill & Chill. His team scored 6th overall and took home one of the event’s famous carved wooden bear trophies.
Nick and his team cook on homemade drum cookers which has helped him to understand and learn the art of 昀re management. Nick intends to prove that his RoY title was not “just a 昀uke.” Achieving a top ten ToY ranking in 2022, 昀rst place in each meat category and winning a Grand Championship while vending at a contest are just a few goals Nick has set for the team.
His experience cooking at the Super Bowl was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he knew they were “a part of something big”. He explained, “the energy was crazy!” and shared that he has always wanted to help out the OBR organization and would do it again.
It was a pleasure learning about Nick’s cooking evolution and his story should inspire future beginners to try cooking America’s cuisine, BBQ!
Nick Barrick and the team of Operation BBQ Relief Volunteers at the Super Bowl LVI Player’s Tailgate Party at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
BarbecueNews.com - 20
APRIL 2022