Jay Frankovich and Steve Ray
Jay Frankovich of 'Merica Smokers won the Lamar Johnson Classic BBQ Event held Saturday in Ooltewah.
The event was held in conjunction with Ooltewah Oktoberfest and sponsored by the local Ooltewah Food City.
Mr. Frankovich out cooked 10 other teams posting wins in the chicken and ribs category and placing second in pork category to earn the overall Grand Champion Title.
"I told my wife that I really needed to come to Ooltewah and cook this contest," said Mr.
Frankovich, from Philadelphia, Tn. said, "Something told me to come here and I am glad I did."
Event organizer Steve Ray said Frankovich was a late entry.
"One of the participants had to pull out so I posted the opening on fb and Jay called me Wednesday asking if he could get in the cook. I cooked against him twice this summer and knew how good he was. I was thrilled he even considered and participated," Mr. Ray said.
Mr. Frankovich earned $1,700 for his efforts, plus four great looking trophies designed by Ooltewah Mechanical Fabrication. Shawn Causby of Choo Choo BBQ was second and Randall Bowman of Deep South Smokers was third.
Lamar Johnson Classic trophies