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Sponsored Teams

Hickory Hangover

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Hickory Hangover is a competition BBQ team from Madison, Alabama. The team consists of 3 core members: Brian Walker, Jay Honea, and Greg Walker (Brian’s Dad, known as Poppi). Brian and Poppi have competed in Whistlestop, a local bbq competition, every year since 2013. In 2018, Jay attended Whistlestop and hung out with the team. He had a great time, and thought competition bbq looked fun. Brian wanted to start cooking more local competitions, and Jay was looking to get into competition bbq, so they joined forces and have been cooking together ever since. Brian and Jay live less than a mile apart, so they get together frequently and practice their competition recipes. 

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Hickory Hangover competes in 20-30 competitions per year. They primarily cook KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society) events, but they also cook in the SCA (Steak Cookoff Association) and BCA (BBQ Competitors Alliance) when scheduling permits. 

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Hickory Hangover is coming off a great 2021 season that had several highlights: they won KCBS Backyard Chicken Team of the Year, finished 6th overall against the best cooks in the world at the KCBS World Invitational Open, and won the inaugural Madison Railyard Fest. They’ve won 4 Grand Championships, 5 Reserve Grand Championships, many 1st place categories, and 2 180s (a rare perfect score in Chicken and Pork).

JT Smoke Shack

JT's Smoke Shack is a competitive BBQ team from Athens, AL, that started competitive BBQ in 2010.  The team is made up of 3 members, John Noel, Tim King and Arnie Zayas.  Bill Guyer of Erie, PA is a part time member of the team as well and will usually be able to join us for 1 competition a year.  We do local competitions and typically do 3-4 contests per year.  We have won reserve champion at Whistle Stop in Huntsville, AL, Riverfest in Decatur, AL and Smoke on The Falls in Gadsden, AL.  We are still searching for our first Grand Champion call.

 

We cook because we love to eat and enjoy the fellowship that goes along with good BBQ.

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