Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rally reception
18 teams cook in official Bikes, Blues & BBQ competition
ROGERS — The fifth annual Frisco Inferno BBQ Competition made its debut Saturday at Frisco Park as the official barbecue competition for Bikes, Blues & BBQ motorcycle rally.
Bikes, Blues & BBQ is celebrating its 20th year and has traditionally featured a barbecue at the Washington County Fairgrounds, said Mark Shaffer, Frisco Inferno coordinator.
“The board at Bikes, Blues & BBQ recognized the advantage of expanding the event to areas outside of Fayetteville, and they honored us by selecting our event to be their premier event,” he said. “We’re very excited and hope to put on a really great first-year event.”
Plans for this year’s Frisco Inferno competition were already in the works by the Rotary Club of Downtown Rogers when Bikes, Blues & BBQ gave the club an opportunity to participate in the event just a few months ago, he said.
“We’ll learn a ton from this year,” Shaffer said. “Now that we know we’ll be in a long-standing relationship with Bikes, Blues & BBQ , it will be really helpful toward planning for next year.”
All event proceeds will benefit Rotary Club community and international outreach projects, said Wendy Kumpe, club member.
Eighteen teams competed for acclaim, a $500 cash prize and a trophy as firstplace hopefuls for the People’s Choice and Best Butt awards, Shaffer said. The second- and third-place teams in each event competed for trophies.
There was no one team to watch this year, but Shaffer said the team representing Arvest’s downtown Rogers branch won the first People’s Choice Award in 2018.
“I think we end up with a clean slate every year,” he said, adding teams learn more of what competition judges are looking for annually. “Each year is a brand new experience for everybody participating.”
Kyle Roberts, Arvest marketing manager, said he feels confident the team will hold onto the People’s Choice trophy for a second consecutive year.
“We’ve made just a little change to what we did last year,” Roberts said, being cautious not to give up too many details on his team’s recipe.
“’Slow and low.’ That would be our tag line, ‘slow and low,’” he said of his team’s strategy. “That’s what you’ve gotta do in barbecue — and maybe add a little bit of sour cream seasoning on the end.”
Rick McLeod with the team representing McLeod Farmers’s Insurance in Rogers said he felt his team would give Arvest a run for their money this year.
“We’re always a contender,” McLeod said, adding the team has competed in every Frisco Inferno BBQ Competition.
The team begins planning for the event almost a year in advance, he said.
“Once we know what the date is, we start coming after it,” McLeod said.
The team prepare’s their barbecue using a dry rub of spices conceived by team member Candy Holcombe of Garfield, he said.
“I’m not telling my secret,” Holcombe said of her dry rub. “I just believe in flavor. Lots and lots of different things put together to give it a good flavor.”
Amie Rook of Springdale attended Frisco Inferno for her second time this year and said the barbecue offered by Big Country BBQ stood out.
“I think that one’s been my favorite one so far,” she said.
The event was an opportunity to have a good time and have some great food, Rook said.
“It’s a lot of fun and family friendly,” she said.
Shaffer was unable to provide estimates on how many people attended Frisco Inferno this year, but said the event was a definite success.
“It’s hands down the best Frisco Inferno we’ve ever had,” he said.
Shaffer said he feels the event will build awareness of what Rogers has to offer.
“We hope that long term it will provide an opportunity to present more venues in the Rogers downtown area throughout the event so that all of the attendees can have new places to go explore,” he said. “We think Rogers is a great destination for that.”