Check if palindrome

palindrome.py

from time import perf_counter 

string_to_check = "Go hang a salami --- --- I'm a lasagna hog."

#myCode - 
def is_palindrome1(p_str):
    new_str = ""
    for char in p_str:
        if char.isalpha():
            new_str += char.lower()
    start_p = 0
    end_p = len(new_str)-1
    
    while start_p < end_p:
        if new_str[start_p] != new_str[end_p]:
            return False
        start_p += 1
        end_p -= 1
    
    return True
    
#cleanCode - 
def is_palindrome2(p_str):
    fwd = ''.join(re.findall(r'[a-z]+', p_str.lower()))
    bwd = fwd[::-1]
    return fwd == bwd
    

#-------------

t1_start1 = perf_counter()
print(is_palindrome1(string_to_check))
t1_stop1 = perf_counter()  
print("Elapsed time during the whole program in seconds [func 1]:", t1_stop1-t1_start1) 

t1_start2 = perf_counter()
import re
print(is_palindrome2(string_to_check))
t1_stop2 = perf_counter()  
print("Elapsed time during the whole program in seconds [func 2]:", t1_stop2-t1_start2)