Redneck Scientific, the Kansas City Barbecue Society competition team based in Clayton brought home the hardware this month from the American Royal, home of the World Series of Barbecue, in Kansas City, Missouri.
On Saturday, Sept. 2, Redneck Scientific took home 2017 Second Place Runner Up in the American Royal 30th Annual Invitational Contest (third place) with a combined point score of 705. Redneck Scientific earned top honors with a seventh-place finish in the brisket category and a second-place finish in the ribs category that was also a perfect 180 score. On Sunday, Sept. 3, Redneck Scientific took home Reserve Grand Champion in the 2017 38th Annual Open Contest.
Redneck Scientific is a competition BBQ team headed up by pit master Jerry L. Stephenson, Jr., Clayton, and his sister Roxanne Manley of Jacksonville, NC. Since their beginning, Redneck Scientific has earned numerous Grand Championships and Reserve Grand Championships in KCBS competitions across the Southeast.
In January 2017, Jerry opened a restaurant at McGee’s Crossroads near Benson called The Redneck BBQ Lab. The Lab serves up fresh, slow smoked ribs, pork, brisket, turkey and chicken seven days a week along with freshly prepared side items, like collards, green beans, jalapeno macaroni and cheese, BBQ potatoes and baked beans. The restaurant employs 25 residents of Johnston County and is located at 12101-B Hwy 210, exit 319 off I-40 at McGee’s Crossroads.
To qualify to compete in the American Royal Invitational, teams must win at least one Grand Championship from a qualifying contest between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. The Invitational hosted 129 such teams this year. The Open contest is open to anyone who wants to compete along with all 129 Invitational teams. This year the Open contest hosted 300+ teams from around the country and the world. Both competitions, the Invitational and the Open, are the largest competitions in the country earning the title The World Series of Barbecue. This is the first year a North Carolina team has placed in the top five overall for one or both competitions.
In 2017, they are one of only 10 teams who won seven Grand Championships to earn a spot in the coveted Jack Daniels Championship BBQ Invitational. Redneck Scientific and Who Cares BBQ will represent the great state of North Carolina in late October in Lynchburg, TN.
