Aaron Leslie competed in the 22nd Annual Smoke on the Hill Bar-B-Que championship for the second time Saturday — and for the second time, Leslie won the Grand Championship title.
For the 2026 Championship, the Midland-based cooker won first place in two categories — Chicken and Brisket — before being named the Grand Champion of the annual competition. In both the individual wins, Leslie was competing against 59 other cookers for the top prize.
Earning the Reserve Champion award was Larry Allen.
Other individual category winners were:
Margurita – Heart of Texas Roofing
Bloody Mary – Bradley Floyd
Ribs – Kevin Counts
Youth Chicken – Alex Lofstrom
Beans – David Loeffler
Chicken -Aaron Leslie
Brisket – Aaron Leslie
Grand Champion – Aaron Leslie
Reserve Grand Champion – Larry Allen
Smoke on the Hill is a non-profit organization that raises funds for the Brady Volunteer Fire Department. Over the past four years, the organization has raised $135,000 to help the BVFD purchase two new trucks.
