Should Wheldon story have been A1 in the NYT?

The other question is did the NYT have a writer at the event? That can be a factor as well... I'm not saying it should be, but we all know it can be...

 

In addition to the lack of name recognition and the decreased interest in alll things IndyCar, the reality that race car drivers dying is not all that rare has a lot to do with why Wheldon's death did not get the play some believe it should have.

 

Really? I'd say that's a no-brainer 1A for every paper in America unless terrorists bomb a building or something on the same day.

 

It wasn't. It's why many rules were changed in that time period to make the game safer. I believe the president was even involved in that outcry.

 

It's relatively rare at the upper levels. NASCAR hasn't had a death in any of its top three series in 10 years. IndyCar, no one since Paul Dana in 2006.

 

The last time an Indy car driver died in a race was 1999.

There were two race deaths from 1982 up to then.

There were seven practice deaths from 1982 until now, though, two of them since the last race death in 1999.

 

You may be right, but I could also see them teasing it on 1A and then having it be the lead story in sports. How often does any sports story make it to 1A of the NY Times?

 

As straight news? Good question. You'll often see sports features like the Adam Dunn sucks story.

 

East Coast bias? That seems to me to be an odd way to approach it.

Did any newspapers -- other say than Las Vegas -- play it on the front?

May he rest in peace, but he was not Dale Earnhardt.

 

I don't think so. Dale Jr, Kyle, Jeff Gordon, maybe Jimmy Johnson. I am sure I am missing on person.

Dale Jr. is the only guarantee in my book.

 

I did mention I was forgetting someone.

 

I wonder what percentage of NYT readers even knew who Wheldon was before Sunday?