motorsport.com Indy 500 pole day report
The subject of this post is not motorsportforums but rather motorsport.com.
I have a few questions concerning motorsport.com's report on the recently completed Indianapolis 500 pole day qualifying.
First off, is there any particular reason why no one signs off as authoring the report? Its understood that several persons contributed to the piece but someone must be responsible for compiling all the contributions and data into a single, edited report.
What is the rationale for inserting this comment down at the very end?
Quote:
No driver came even remotely close to challenging the track qualifying record of 236.986 mph set by Arie Luyendyk in 1996.
Any serious fan, much less a reporter, must surely realize that in the interest of safety today's lap speeds are governed by sanctioning body regulations. Track record speeds are pretty much beyond reach across the entire landscape of closed course motorsport competition.
For comparison's sake here is the report on JPM's pole winning effort at Talladega;
Quote:
(Montoya) will start at the front of the field for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career after laying down a fast lap time of 188.171 miles per hour in qualifying for the Aaron's 499.
The numbers;
Talladega NASCAR 500/499
Bill Elliot 1987 qualifying record - 212.809 mph
JPM's 2009 qualifying speed - 188.171 mph
difference = 24.638 mph
Indianapolis 500
Luyendky 1996 quailfying record - 236.986
Castroneves 2009 quailfying speed - 224.864
difference = 12.122 mph
Talladega's speed differential is more than twice that of Indy's. The rationale for selectively placing editorial emphasis on current speeds vs the historical record escapes me.
Also;
Quote:
Diminutive fifth-year Indy 500 competitor Danica Patrick
Show me where motorsport.com used an identical description in the case of Mark Martin
