Tailgate Guys BBQ Show, Episode 75: Lee Thompson, Jeni Huelskamp
Release Date: 07/21/2020
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 332: Bill Heyen
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
The 2025 competition BBQ season was another great one for Bill Heyen and wife Andrea of Triple H BBQ from Gillespie, Illinois. But beyond three grand championships and four RGCs, with a scoring average a fraction under 700, Bill uses the word “blessed” to describe a season that concluded with a Grand Championship at last weekend’s Atlanta BBQ Store Classic. Bill battled back from a tumor near his liver that led to several rounds of chemotherapy during the summer and fall and is feeling great headed into the offseason - a victory bigger than any achieved on his Gateway Drum Smokers. On...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Epsiode 331: Jason Wagner, American Royal review
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
We came, we cooked, we survived. On Episode 331 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, it’s a review of the 45th American Royal World Series of BBQ where conditions were challenging for Sunday’s 401-team Open. The Tailgate Guys team didn’t come away with any coveted ribbons, as we had done in three of our four previous visits to the world’s largest BBQ competition, but we had a respectable showing in our fifth and final Royal with a 98th place, putting us in the top 25 percent overall. Our food was good. Memories were made. While we’ll never win The Royal, we bring you the big winner....
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 330: Christie Vanover; Skyler Spartan
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
With Thanksgiving knocking on the door, it’s time to plan a menu and possibly incorporate the grill or smoker to make the big feast even better. On Episode 330 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, award-winning pitmaster, judge and BBQ promoter Christie Vanover of Girls Can Grill offers some ideas from her book: “Holiday Grilling: 111 Recipes to Celebrate the Season.” Christie also reviews her BBQ year, which has inducted some top-10 competition finishes and judging at the Jack Daniels World Invitational. Check out her tremendous website for all sorts of info. Skyler Spartan from Grill...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 329: American Royal preview
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Episode 329 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast is our 45th American Royal World Series of BBQ preview. First up is a conversation, beginning at the 6:30 mark, with American Royal BBQ Manager Kayci Vincent and director of communications Allyssa King about what teams and spectators can expect from the world’s largest BBQ competition. The fun is set for Nov. 6-9 at Kansas Speedway. Then we bring back our roundtable of first-time American Royal competitors with a trio of pit masters - Kurt Brauner from Rack City BBQ out of Las Vegas; Dan Wright of Take it Easy BBQ from St. Louis and Bradley...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 328: Paul Keltner; Skyler Spartan
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
When you talk about consistent excellence in competition BBQ, few teams stand out over the last decade more than Rooters-N-Tooters from Tennessee. On Episode 328 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we talk it over with Paul Keltner about Rooters-N-Tooters sustained success, which includes three KCBS Grand Championships in 2025 - including last weekend’s Royal Oak Invitational - plus overall top-10s in 23 of 25 competitions this season. Paul touches on what he thinks has contributed to the consistency and previews a busy home stretch of the season ahead. We also check in with Skyler Spartan...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 327: Ryan King; Aaron Huentelman
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Since the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast began a decade ago, one of our mantras has been “we talk to champions.” Episode 327 features the latest BBQ world champion. It’s Ryan King of Kings BBQ out of Jacksonville, Florida, the Grand Champion at last weekend’s Jack Daniels World Invitational in Lynchburg, Tenn. Beginning at the 10:22 mark, Ryan tells us about a cook that placed him among the legends - and how it wasn’t exactly without challenges along the way. We also explore Ryan’s background in BBQ and how Kings BBQ has emerged as one of the top teams in the country, even before making...
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Taiglate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 326: Donny Teel; Samantha Spartan
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
We visit with a Hall of Famer on Episode 326 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Donny Teel and Buffalo’s BBQ is a legend from Sperry, Oklahoma, winning more than 100 competitions over a three-decade career including Grand Championships at both the American Royal World Series of BBQ Open and Jack Daniels World BBQ Invitational. Donny will be inducted into the BBQ Hall of Fame next month during the American Royal at Kansas Speedway and we visit with him what it was like in the old days, when a little whiskey or cold beer went a long way toward getting helpful tips and tricks from other...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 325: Marvin Weinberger; Darren Warth
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
We all know how important it is to keep those cooking grates clean. On Episode 325 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we talk it over with Marvin Weinberger, an entrepreneur who’s developed a handy and effective tool called the GrillFighter to get the job done. We visit with Marvin about his background as an inventor and why coming up with the GrillFighter was important to him. Marvin’s segment begins at the 10:37 mark of the show. After a planned guest declined to come on to talk about a huge victory, we run back one of our favorite segments from earlier this summer with the OG GOAT of...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 324: Sam Dodson, Chuck McKibben
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Sam Dodson of Bull in the Ring BBQ had been knocking on the door of his first KCBS Grand Championship, with a series of top-10 finishes and a recent runner-up finish. Last weekend in Ponca City, Oklahoma, Bull in the Ring scored the big prize and on Episode 324 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast we visit with Sam about the journey and some of the keys in getting to a consistently elite level. Sam’s segment begins at the 11:30 mark. There’s a terrific KCBS comp coming up this weekend in Miami, Oklahoma. Smokin’ on the Route offers a prize purse in excess of $17,000 and pays the top 12 in...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 323: Brett McKinney, Richard Fergola
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
A few days after B’Mackin BBQ set a KCBS record with a near-perfect cook at the Burnt Offering BBQ Contest in Riverside, California, we talk it over on Episode 323 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast with San Diego’s Brett McKinney about how he and teammate Benny Watsman pulled it off. B’Mackin scored an amazing 718.8572 and just missed a quadruple 180 by a couple of judges slightly dinging them in the chicken category. McKinney said he’s still in happy shock over the record, but B’Mackin is no stranger to consistent excellent having finished top 10 overall in 31 of its last 34 comps...
info_outlineWe like KCBS judges. We really do. It’s just that a small percentage of really bad ones cast a dark shadow and drive many teams out of the sport. On Episode 75 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show Podcast, we discuss our thoughts on this topic after getting a first-hand look at … um … interesting scoring the past weekend.
Meanwhile, we then move on and talk to people a lot smarter than us about BBQ. Lee Thompson of Florida BBQ Association Team of the Year Pig Chicka Cow Cow joins us to talk about the frustration of how contests - with or without good judging - have ground to a half in his neck of the woods.
Also this week, Jeni Huelskamp from the Pits N Grills BBQ teams reflects on a fabulous weekend for that team at Smokin’ on the Osage in Osceola, Missouri. Jeni also owns and operates Manly Cans, a great business that fans of BBQ might be interested in.
Thanks to our sponsors/marketing partners who make the fun possible: Blues Hog, The Butcher Shoppe, The BBQ Central Show, Royal Oak Charcoal, Code 3 Spices - www.code3spices.com, Affordable Income Tax & Payroll, DDR Fabrication, Colaw RV and The BBQ League. Special thanks to Vietti Marketing Group and In the Garden of Eden for supporting our competition efforts.
Have a great week! #SmokeEmIfYouGotEm