MERRIAM, Kan. — Gettin’ Basted and Electro-Que-ted have been named the 2025 Prairie Fresh® Pit Crew Teams of the Year, marking a historic season for Prairie Fresh Pit Crew teams with major victories at the most prestigious barbecue contests in the world.
The Prairie Fresh Pit Crew is a nationwide network of competitive barbecue teams that choose Prairie Fresh pork products for contests. To celebrate excellence in barbecue, Prairie Fresh created the Pit Crew Honor Roll — a recognition program for teams that win Grand Championships or first place in pork or rib categories at U.S.-sanctioned contests while cooking with Prairie Fresh pork. Participating teams earn points toward prizes and the prestigious Prairie Fresh Pit Crew Team of the Year title in both the Masters and Backyard divisions.
2025 Prairie Fresh Pit Crew Masters Division Team of the Year: Gettin’ Basted
Leading the way in the Masters division is Gettin’ Basted, headed by Pitmaster Brad Leighninger of Nixa, Mo. A Prairie Fresh brand ambassador, Leighninger’s team delivered a dominant season with 13 Honor Roll inductions including nine grand championships and multiple category wins across the country, including the World Rib Championship at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Invitational Contest.
In addition to being named Prairie Fresh Pit Crew Team of the Year, Gettin’ Basted will also be recognized by Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) as the KCBS Masters Team of the Year as well as Rib and Pork Team of the Year.
Leighninger said, “The best pitmasters in the world use Prairie Fresh ribs and pork in competition. I am extremely proud of finishing this season on top as the Prairie Fresh Pit Crew Team of the Year!”
2025 Prairie Fresh Pit Crew Backyard Division Team of the Year: Electro-Que-ted
In the Backyard division, Electro-Que-ted, led by Pitmaster Brian Ford of Dickson, Tenn., electrified the barbecue world with nine Honor Roll inductions including eight Grand Championships and numerous category wins. Their 2025 season featured standout performances, including the Grand Championship at the 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational Backyard Series.
“I am honored to receive this accolade, especially with the caliber of teams competing and using Prairie Fresh products,” said Ford. “Prairie Fresh is the not-so-secret, secret ingredient of championship barbecue.”
Ford’s team demonstrated consistency, creativity and mastery of flavor, earning their spot as the top Prairie Fresh Backyard team in the nation and KCBS Backyard Series Overall Team of the Year and Backyard Series Rib Team of the Year.
Historic Year for Prairie Fresh Pit Crew Teams
The 2025 season was one for the record books, with 274 Prairie Fresh Pit Crew teams earning 673 Honor Roll recognitions and claiming top honors at the most prestigious barbecue competitions in the world, including:
- Kings BBQ, Jacksonville, Fla. — Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational BBQ Grand Champion and World Rib Champion
- Rooters-N-Tooters, Mount Pleasant, Tenn. — American Royal World Series of Barbecue Invitational Grand Champion
- Heath Riles BBQ, Olive Branch, Miss. — Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest Grand Champion and World Rib Champion
- Rescue Smokers, Sycamore, Ga. — Smoke Slam Grand Champion
- Love 2 Q, Desoto, Kan. — American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open Contest Rib World Champion
- Mulkey’s BBQ, Imperial, Mo. — American Royal World Series of Barbecue Invitational World Pork Champion
- Damn Fine Beef & Swine, Lee’s Summit, Mo. — KCBS World Invitational World Pork Champion
- Local Yokels BBQ, Crossville, Ill. — KCBS World Invitational Open World Champion Pork
- Too Sauced BBQ, Topeka, Kan. — American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest Grand Champion
- Give ’Em Hell, Hutto, Texas — Memphis in May World Championship Jr. Contest Grand Champion
- Bugsy Que, Coldwater, Miss. — World Junior BBQ League Championship Grand Champion
- Totally Bodacious BBQ, Ingleside, Texas — Smoke Slam World Junior BBQ League Grand Champion
- Caught Smokin’, Overland Park, Kan. — National High School BBQ Association National Championships Grand Champion
“We’re honored that the world’s top barbecue teams choose Prairie Fresh pork,” said David Eaheart, Prairie Fresh senior director of communications and brand marketing. “That same championship quality is available to everyone at home. If you want to barbecue like our Pit Crew Teams of the Year and other world champions, Prairie Fresh delivers the products and know-how to make it happen. We created the Prairie Fresh BBQ-Pit-Stop https://www.prairiefresh.com/bbq-pit-stop/ to share expert tips and tricks from world-class pitmasters with barbecue fans everywhere.”
Visit the Prairie Fresh BBQ Pit Stop to see all the 2025 Pit Crew Honor Roll https://www.prairiefresh.com/25-pit-crew-honor-roll/ inductees.
About Prairie Fresh
Prairie Fresh is the brand of a uniquely connected food system relentlessly seeking a better way to produce wholesome pork by purposely connecting every step between its American-owned farms in the Midwest and Great Plains and family tables around the world. Prairie Fresh pork is produced, sold and marketed by Seaboard Foods and processed in Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri. The brand proudly supports Operation BBQ Relief, donating enough pork since 2015 for the organization to serve more than 4.8 million meals.
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