Minnesotans win cash prize, title and trophy

In just his second year at the event, Mike Bowar and his Famous Dave’s BBQ team have reached the pinnacle of the rib-grilling circuit – Champion of the 18th annual Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off.

“We thought it would take 10 years to win it,” said Bowar, whose cooking team hails from Plymouth, Minn. “It’s a huge, huge surprise. We got it done.”

Bowar and his team, who take home the title, a huge trophy and $7,500, yelled with excitement as the results of the double-blind judging were announced to a packed crowd on Victorian Square today, the last day of this year’s event. Twenty-four barbeque teams and hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the country converged on Sparks and John Ascuaga’s Nugget for the six-day event that is widely considered to be the biggest, most prestigious rib-cooking event in the United States.

“This is the best event in the country. We all know it,” said fifth-place winner Bill Wall, who operates Bone Daddy’s of Midland, Mich.

Added fourth-place winner Dale Hieskell of Texas Brothers Bar-B-Que of Pottsboro, Texas, “As long as this is going and we’re not in the ground, we’ll be coming here to this event.”

The top five winners were: First place, Famous Dave’s BBQ, Plymouth, Minn., $7,500; Second place, B.J’s Barbeque, Sparks, Nev., $3,000; Third place, Sweet Meat Cooking Team, Euless, Texas., $2,000; Fourth Place, Texas Brothers Bar-B-Que, Pottsboro, Texas, $1,000; and Fifth Place, Bone Daddy’s, Midland, Mich., $500.

People’s Choice Award went to Butch Lupinetti and Butch’s Smack Your Lips BBQ of Mt. Laurel, NJ. Best sauce award went to Porky ‘n’ Beans of Parma, Ohio.

Stephen Ascuaga announced the winners. He said this year’s winners represent the evolution of an event that started with humble expectations 18 years ago and has grown into the biggest cook-off in the country.

“The winners were a great cross-section of true veterans and the up-and-comers,” he said. “Some of these teams have been with us since we started. Others have joined us as the event has grown. This is great for the region, with B.J.’s taking second place. And it’s great for the event that we can gather 24 of the country’s best BBQ cookers in one place.”

Preliminary estimates of this year’s Rib Cook-off show it to be the biggest of its existence, with nearly 500,000 people expected to have attended and more than 100 tons of ribs served.

For event history and information call (800) 648-1177 or (775) 356-3300, or visit www.nuggetribcookoff.com.