LOCAL EVENT NEWS — Jack Daniel World Championship Invitational Barbecue officials gathered in Lynchburg last week to finalized the teams for this year event scheduled for October 8-9 in historic downtown Lynchburg. In June, distillery officials announced that they’d move forward with the 2021 event but this year with domestic teams only due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
76 teams vie for The Jack and a $25,000 prize
Judges from around the country and thousands of barbecue enthusiasts will join competitive barbecue’s “best of the best” as they compete for the coveted title of Grand Champion and $25,000 in prize money. The Jack is widely considered the world’s most prestigious barbecue competition in many barbecue circles.
Teams from across the United States will compete in seven categories : Pork Ribs, Pork Shoulder/Butts, Beef Brisket, Chicken, Dessert, Cook’s Choice and Jack Daniel’s Sauce. To qualify, domestic teams must have won a state championship with a minimum of 25 competing teams, or a competition with more than 50 teams battling in the categories of Pork Ribs, Pork Butts, Chicken and Beef Brisket.
The final competitors were selected during a blind drawing of all eligible teams last week. Additionally, automatic invitations are given to the 2019 Jack Daniel’s Grand Champion, Clark Crew BBQ, as well as this season’s grand champions from Memphis in May, The American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open, and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest.
This years teams list includes (listed by their home state):
ALABAMA: Poppa Pig and Smoke Me Silly
ALASKA: 40 Below BBQ
ARKANSAS: Cowboy Q, Piggin’ Whiskey, and Razorracks
ARIZONA: YSB BBQ
CALIFORNIA: Big Poppa Smokers, Cynical BBQ, Rooftop BBQ
COLORADO: Grillin’ Bevers
CONNETICUIT: Fire at the End of the Day
FLORIDA: Hot Wachula’s, Pig-Chicka-Cow-Cow
GEORGIA: Jack’s Old South, Smokin’ Sweatmeat
IOWA: Lucky’s Q
IDAHO: Crooked Pigs
ILLINOIS: one2bbq, The Bb Bus, Triple H BBQ
INDIANA: Grey Street BBQ
KANSAS: High I Que, Mad Mutt’s BBQ, Slap’s BBQ
KENTUCKY: Blue Chip BBQ
LOUISIANA: Central City BBQ, Sweet Bayou BBQ
MASSACHUSETTES: Insane Swine BBQ, Smokin’ Hoggz BBQ
MARYLAND: Smokecraft
MICHIGAN: Kevlar
MINNESOTA: Nectar of the Hogs
MISSOURI: Gettin’ Basted, Shake n’ Bake BBQ, Two Krackers Kookin’, Uncle Bub’s BBQ LLC
MISSISSIPPI: Piglitically Incorrect BBQ
MONTANA: Montana Outlaw BBQ
NORTH CAROLINA: Midnight Burn, Redneck Scientific
NORTH DAKOTA: Owens BBQ. Spitfire
NEBRASKA: Timbone Barbecue
NEW JERSEY: Glazed nd Infused New Jersey BBQ
NEW YORK: Big Raz BBQ, Pig’s Pajamas BBQ, Top Gun Barbecue
OHIO: Ale Yea BBQ
OKLAHOMA: Clark Crew BBQ, T-N-T Que Crew
PENNSYLVANIA: Nice Racks
RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Hog BBQ
SOUTH CAROLINA: Palmetto Pitmasters
SOUTH DAKOTA: B-S BBQ Outlaws
TENNESSEE: Q-Bones BBQ, Rocky Top Barbeque, Rooters-N-Tooters, Under the Radar
TEXAS: Boomerang BBQ, Fayette County Go-Texan, Mid Coast Cookers, Rio Valley Meat, Texas Oil Dust
UTAH: Jager Q, Salt City Barbecue, Utah BBQ Company
VIRGINIA: Aporkalypse Now, Cool Smoke, 3N1 Q, Old Virginia Smoke
WEST VIRGINIA: Bootie BBQ, Wackadoo BBQ, Warpig Smokehouse
WICONSIN: T-Mac Smokin
WYOMING: You Que’d Me All Night Long
On October 9, other activities will include original games such as the Country Dog Contest and Bung and Bag Toss competitions. Games begin Saturday at 11 a.m. and continue throughout the day. Barbecue judging starts at 11:30 a.m., and the awards presentation will take place at 5 p.m.
Admission to the 32nd Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue is a voluntary donation to the Moore County School system. •
{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}