Page 32 - Barbecue News Magazine May 2022

YOU GET A 700! AND YOU GET A 700! AND YOU GET A 700!!
Fire It Up Events hosted a double header KCBS sanctioned contest at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia CA which awarded TWELVE 180 pins and EIGHT 700 plus pins. CBBQA Vice President recaps the weekends events.
Brett McKinney , B’Mackin BBQ , CBBQA VP
BBQ returns to Santa Anita! This was actually my 昀rst time competing at Santa Anita. I heard it was a fantastic event at a really cool venue. Stories of horses running in the early morning, teams stacked throughout the in昀eld, trailers getting stuck in the tunnel, long walks from the Colorado lot, and Jerry Aguilar of BNL BBQ winning back to back and crushing the 昀eld made me excited to be able to join in on the fun this year. Indeed, all the hype was con昀rmed; Ben Lobenstein of Fire it Up Events and Ric Gilbert put on a top notch event. Here is what went down:
Day 1: I left San Diego at 9:00 am, meeting up with Derrick and Brian from West Coast BBQ Shop and following them up to Arcadia. We arrived at the track around noon, drove through the tunnel and made our way to the in昀eld. Upon meeting Ben, he told us we could basically set up anywhere, so many options! We ended up 昀nding a cozy spot next to West Coast BBQ Shop, Bull Market BBQ, OM BBQ, and Rhythm n Que. I love being able to spread out and not be too tightly cramped next to other teams. About half of the teams camped out on the in昀eld, with the other half located outside of the track in the Colorado lot. Much respect to all of the teams on the outside for powering through those 3-4 minute walks to turn-ins! PC (people’s choice) teams were set up near the tunnel ready to start feeding the
public. After the judges meeting at 5:00 pm, teams 昀nished up their prep work, had some dinner, and retired for the evening. Turn-in times were moved up an hour, so the next morning was about to creep up on us all quickly.
Saturday morning, 4:00 a.m., time to light the 昀res. It was a pretty cool experience to see that in addition to the cooks getting busy, so too were the horses and jockeys as they got an early start doing warm-ups. The random “horse on the loose but don’t worry because it happens and it will 昀nd its way back” alarm was also a new experience for me. At 10:30 a.m., the gates opened to the public and the PC teams started to feed the masses. Much appreciation to 7 Sins BBQ, Smokin’ Volts BBQ, 5th Gear BBQ, and Coaches Pit BBQ for taking on the challenge of feeding the public, in addition to competing. BBQ needs you and we are grateful for you! People coming out to these events want to be involved and sample some food. Thank you for stepping up and making sure the public is happy, involved and well-fed. And a personal extra special thank you from me for taking the time out of the chaos to hook my daughter up with the nachos and peach cobbler. BBQ family is what it is all about right there!
In addition to the PC teams, Harry Soo of Slap Yo Daddy BBQ and Patty Sharpe from the Woodshed teamed up to cook a whole hog on a brand new Santa Maria pit built by
Below: RGC Dave Mara and Jaime Paredes with Meat Candy Q (El Cajon, California) received 180 in pork ribs and 2nd place in pork which was good enough to land them second place overall at the Winners’ Circle.
Above: Sterling Smith , veteran owner and head cook of Loot N’ Booty BBQ from Scottsdale AZ took GC with an overall score of 711.97 receiving calls in the top 昀ve for every category including a 180 in chicken
the Woodshed. Always an
ambassador for the sport, Harry chatted with the public, posed for pictures, and cooked up what I’m sure was a delicious hog. After the cook, the Santa Maria pit was auctioned o昀, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Thank you Harry and Patty!
Overall, a huge congratulations to “Smitty” from Loot n’ Booty BBQ for absolutely crushing his cook and boat racing the 昀eld with a 711 taking home the Grand Championship. He managed back to back wins with crazy high scores. That guy is cooking in the future and is absolutely on 昀re! Way to cook bro! Taking home the Reserve Grand Championship were Dave Mara and Jaime Paredes from Meat Candy Q, continuing to show why they are one of the most consistent teams out there. That other team from El Cajon is proud of you gents! Keep up the good work! Now time to run it back for Day 2!
Day 2: Another early start time, lighting the 昀res at 4a.m., watching the horses warming up and getting back to
work. PC teams went back to work serving tasty treats to the huge lines of people eager to get a taste. Vince from Rhythm n Que graciously led our little corner in an Old School toast with top shelf whiskey and Alabama imported sausage. The BBQ family truly is the best. Whether it is cooking breakfast to share with those around you or hosting the 9/11 shot, teams are always willing to share whatever they have to make the competition day enjoyable. The main excitement for the day however would come during awards, as we were all shocked to see just how crazy the ceremony would unfold. Indeed, this would be a record setting awards in California. We have our fair share of 180s and 700s out west. I’d say maybe one or two 180s per event is probably representative of a typical California competition. 700s are even rarer, but they do happen every few competitions. Not today kids! On Sunday alone, there were EIGHT 180s handed out (the day before had
two). That is an unreal amount of 180s for s 27-team competition. That alone would have made for an historic day, but there was more to come. As the overall Top 10 was read, we learned that SEVEN teams scored in the
700s. Bananas! The day before only had one 700. Eight 180s and seven 700s - I’m not sure how to react to that other than WOW! And of course that I was honored to have received one of each.
Overall, where 700s reigned supreme, a huge congratulations to Jim and Mark from Big Red BBQ for
BarbecueNews.com - 32 MAY 2022