Kansas City, Mo. ? The American Royal Barbecue Contest faces a challenge to the throne.

But backers of the upstart Great American Barbecue Contest — many of them longtime American Royal volunteers — insist it’s a friendly rivalry.

They’re out to smoke meat, not the Royal.

“This isn’t an ‘us versus them.’ There is no animosity that I’m aware of,” said Jim Kay, chairman of the new contest. “I think they’ve got good leadership, and anything we can do to help them we’re happy to do. It’s the biggest and best barbecue in the country, and I think it will continue to be that.”

The Royal, regarded by ‘cue enthusiasts as one of the three most important in the nation, marked its 25th anniversary last year. It is associated with the American Royal, a series of livestock and horse show events held in late September and October at the Kemper Arena complex in Kansas City.

The new event, announced Thursday, will be held over the Memorial Day weekend at The Woodlands, the greyhound- and horse-racing complex in Kansas City, Kan. It will coincide with The Woodland’s biggest annual event, the Great American Greyhound Futurity.

The Kansas City Barbeque Society will sanction the new contest, as it does the American Royal event and about 150 other contests every year.

“It’s just going to be the ‘Great American Week’ at The Woodlands,” said Jim Gartland, general manager of the track. “It looks like it’s going to be big and hopefully be a good thing for both of us. Certainly anything that will bring people to our facility is good for us.”

Last year the American Royal drew 475 barbecue teams, and the Royal is determined to make this fall’s contest — set for Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 — “bigger and better than before,” said banker Mariner Kemper, new co-chairman of the barbecue committee.

Kemper said most of the Royal’s largest sponsors, such as Sprint Corp. and Premium Standard Farms, have already committed to this year’s event. Kemper, chairman and chief executive of UMB Financial Corp., said his company will double its support.

George Guastello, the Royal’s president, said organizers want to make the contest feel like a festival. It took steps toward that goal last year, featuring a blues concert and for the first time in years allowing the public to buy and sample the food of the barbecue contestants.

Kemper and Guastello said it’s not clear how many volunteers are departing their barbecue contest. but Guastello described it as a relatively small part of the Royal’s volunteer force.

“The Royal isn’t about me, and it isn’t about the people who run it,” Guastello said. “It’s about the competition and the exhibitors who come to it.”

The two men said there’s been “overwhelming” response from contestants, the public and sponsors who want to continue supporting their barbecue contest.