Sam's awards BBQ bragging rites and 50K

Arkansas is home to some fine barbeque establishments, but Sam’s Club home state was shut out last week when the top prizes were handed out in the retailer’s third annual National BBQ Tour.

The Killer B’s BBQ team from Evans, Ga., beat out 49 other teams to be named the overall champion of the event and took home the top prize of $50,000. The team of Iowa Smokey D’s barbecue team of Des Moines, Iowa, took home $25,000 as Reserve Grand Champion of the competition, and Pigskin BBQ of Rockwell, Iowa, took third place overall. Awards were also granted in the categories of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket.

Introduced in 2011 as the country’s only continuous competitive barbecue series with the largest prize purse in the history of competitive barbecue, the Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour has distributed more than $1 million in prizes since its inception. All events are sanctioned and scored by master judges certified by the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS).

“Sam’s Club is proud to celebrate small business restaurateurs, caterers and competitive barbecue hobbyists that participate in the BBQ Tour for the past three years,” said Shawn Baldwin, SVP of food and beverage at Sam’s Club. “The Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour brings the best, most passionate pitmasters and sponsors together to inspire and educate anyone who wants to be a better backyard griller.”

A total of 50 teams from 26 states participated in the event last week in Bentonville, Ar., which was the culmination of a 31 event tour.