Our rating system this season consists of a possible of 10 raters ! We took the average of six raters and came up with an average for that episode. Based on ratings of 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, the average of this episode was: 8.5
The first six raters are the ones that will appear on the site here. Please be aware that some reviews may contain spoilers! Some of the comments given were:
Sporty:
A great "episode" Erik. I did notice the different times in the story, but I read your explanation and thanks for it. It didn't spoil my enjoyment of it. Also the car I didn't notice the diffrent names but thanks for the explanation. A interesting insight into the world of NASCAR. And having Sam face his demons and get back on the track was well done. I wonder if what he did at the end with Frank helped, we may never know. A good job all around. I would give it a "7".
RATING: 7
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Vince Beckett:
Despite the errors in this story, it's a good follow up to "Flirting with Disaster". Nice touch throwing in Eddie Sharpe's father and grandfather. Nice ending too with Frank Strickland.
RATING: 8.5
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Seeker:
A certain bit of solid advice given often to writers is to “write what you know about”, and that’s what you’ve done with this story, Erik. Your familiarity and love of the sport were evident from the leap-in to Sam’s leap out. The visual descriptions were crisp and effortlessly clear, and the characters, beyond Sam and Al, lived and breathed for me. I could almost hear the roar of the engines and feel the tension during the races.
While I’m not a fan of NASCAR, or any other sort of car racing, I thoroughly enjoyed this ‘episode’. I also appreciated the explanation you posted, but as another rater has stated, none of that detracted in the slightest from my enjoyment of the story. “Racing Through History” was a very pleasant read, no doubt about it.
Lastly, one particular aspect of “Racing Through History” - the dirt races - brought back some vague but still fondly recalled memories of going to the stock car races as a child with my father. So in addition to a well-written and entertaining story, Erik, I’m going to borrow a famous entertainer’s signature line as I say to you, “Thanks for the memories.”
Great work, Erik. Keep it up!
RATING: 9.5
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Gooshie:
I noticed the strange slip back into the '60s as well; didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story but it did confuse! I just pretended that it was all 1974 and carried on.
You write with such great detail, it almost feels like I'm at the track watching the race and I smelling the fumes of the cars. It was great to see Sam get over his fear and eventually have everything work out. The references to the previous NASCAR story were well done also. Cool idea of adding in the photos - I've seen this in other stories and it gives a good touchstone to the era.
RATING: 8.0
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Xanadu:
A very nice story! Very well put and let's people know more about racing! I really liked how Sam was trying to get to Strickland at the end of it to let him know the importance of the date.
RATING: 9.5
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Rater No. 6
RATING: NR
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The Virtual Seasons Team
