Time once again for the judge's feedback portion of our show. I'll try to lean more toward Randy than Simon here, dogs, but the intent is to offer something in the way of constructive criticism. Nothing personal, folks. You signed on to be judged when you entered this contest, right?

 Those who reached the round of eight are to be commended for their efforts. Click on their names to read their quarterfinal entries, which are reviewed here:

MoparMiller: Stylish phrase-turning and colorful prose served this entrant well in earlier rounds, but may have been his downfall here. The Darwin's Theory and intelligent design references just didn't work for me, and they served to weigh down the first couple paragraphs. In a competition like this, saving your best for last isn't necessarily the way to go. Come out firing -- you can work the poetry in later. Go back to your first-round posting. I got a sense of where you were going in the first paragraph. Much more effective.

Tvill: Some good points were made in intelligent fashion. As we've seen throughout this competition, this guy knows his NASCAR. The writing style may be a bit matter-of-fact here, but the topic is thoroughly addressed. I think the suggestion of keeping the number of night races the same but spreading them out more carefully over the season is a good one. Also like the concern expressed for NASCAR's fans of the future. Overall, a solid effort. 

QuarterMileTracksRock: As his pen name suggests, this entrant is an admitted devotee of the dirt-track circuit. So I was a little surprised not to see him take a stronger stance in defending that turf. He has that angle covered, but I thought he missed an opportunity to really stand up for Saturday nights at the local tracks. Also thought he buried the lead here. This was probably his best point, and it was his last paragraph: "If NASCAR wants the Chase to be successful, they can't run the ball up the middle against the NFL.  Saturday nights make for a tempting way out of that struggle..."

As for this reference: "Two words: little brown oval-shaped ball..."  I'm counting five.

critter340: This one gets high marks for originality, but a couple red marks in punctuation (see Saturday's and Hampton's).  It's an interesting way to attack the topic, with a blend of humor and satire that seems to have come straight out of Colin's martini shaker. It may have been a bit risky to go this route at this stage of the competition, but it appears to have paid off. 

Very effective tagline here: "Sure we all have our preferences, but in the end, we watch because they race."

Gunaquat: There are the occasional awkward sentence structures that pop up in this entrant's work, but it's his passion for the sport that seems to keep shining through. To take the next step, he needs to strive for a little more clarity and bolder writing than what was displayed in the first paragraph of this post. This sentence was a bit of a head-scratcher: "For me,  these are signs of where and when racing should take place." Huh?

But I thought he really rallied here: "I'm sure there are other disadvantages, but being a kid at heart I don't want to see them, because I want what I want: more color, noise, action, and cooler temperatures."

Solid, but short of spectacular. That's my opinion.

Cheviot: I thought this entrant had the game to reach the semifinals of this competition, especially after a strong second-round effort on NASCAR's points system. But this entry was a tad flat, leaning a little too far in the direction of an essay, and away from the more creative style of writing that a blog format allows.

 I didn't really get a sense of where he stands on this topic from reading this, and that's not good. But Cheviot's bio indicates a desire to pursue a career in sports writing, and I would encourage him to stick with it. There's clearly some ability and talent to work with here.

IowaGirl: Another novel approach. A tad gimmicky, maybe, but she seemed to make it work for her. I applaud the fact that she stood by her guns and said NASCAR has doesn't need more night races. She didn't take the easy way out of this topic.

IowaGirl's knowledge of NASCAR propelled her into the elite eight of this competition, and she went out with style.

klvalus: This blogger established herself as a force in this competition from the outset, and didn't disappoint with this entry. Clear, concise and opinionated, with a solid foundation of knowledge of the subject matter. That's a tough combination to beat. The parenthetical "nod" to the sponsor was a clever touch. Leave it to a true NASCAR fan to make sure the logo is showing.