BENTONVILLE, AR -- (Marketwired) -- 09/26/16

America's best pitmasters will descend upon Bentonville this Saturday for their chance to gain more fame and fortune in the competition BBQ circuit. After months of heated competition, the 2016 Sam's Club® National BBQ Tour Grand Champion will be crowned.

Sam's Club® National BBQ Tour is the largest barbeque tour in America and it is set to end the sixth annual cross-country festivities with a $150,000 prize purse in Bentonville, AR on October 1st.

This Sam's Club® National BBQ Tour stop is free and open to the public, giving backyard barbeque enthusiasts front row seats to the sights and smells of championship pitmasters.

The event will be packed with excitement for competing teams and will give Bentonville BBQ lovers up close access to a Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned contest in action. Series director & esteemed pitmaster Michael McDearman will offer samples of quality products to all event attendees while demonstrating grilling tips & techniques. The public is encouraged to attend from 10am to 4pm.

The Bentonville event at Sam's Club, 2101 SE Simple Savings Dr., is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the world's largest organization of barbeque and grilling enthusiasts.

More than 700 teams have battled for the total $500,000 prize purse over the course of the tour that culminates with $150,000 and bragging rights at the National Championship competition this weekend.

The teams will prepare four traditional KCBS competition categories -- chicken, pork ribs, pork, beef brisket -- and scores will be compiled from all four to determine the 2016 Grand Champion.

"This tour shows the true American barbeque style of cooking that stretches all over the country -- from coast to coast, border to border," McDearman said.

The Sam's Club National BBQ Tour is sponsored by Bush's®, Cargill™, KC Masterpiece®, Kingsford®, the National Pork Board, New Zealand Lamb, Reser's® Fine Foods, Sweet Baby Rays®, Tone's®, Tyson®, and Wright® Brand Bacon and updated information about the tour can always be found at www.kcbs.us/samstour.

About Sam's Club®
Sam's Club®, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products, savings and services to millions of members in 652 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. To learn more about Sam's Club, visit the Sam's Club Newsroom, shop at SamsClub.com, and interact with Sam's Club on Twitter and Facebook.

About The Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS)
A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and enjoying barbeque, KCBS celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2016. KCBS serves more than 20,000 active members and sanctions more than 450 barbeque contests worldwide. For more information, visit www.KCBS.us.

Contact:
Torrey Feldman
MMA Creative
615-297-6886
torrey@mmacreative.com