Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Howard Hall (racing driver)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep. WP:SNOW  MBisanz  talk 09:40, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Howard Hall (racing driver)

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Does not pass WP:BIO. No asserted notability, other than being a professional racecar driver and racing in one race, can not find any coverage of the subject, and no sources given in the article. FingersOn  Roids♫  20:31, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Nom Withdrawn - I withdraw the nomination. FingersOn  Roids♫  22:45, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. twirligig T tothe C 21:21, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep All Indianapolis 500 drivers are notable per WikiProject American Open Wheel Racing standards. I will improve the article. -Drdisque (talk) 21:37, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment - Nice catch. I find it just a little ridiculous that a racecar driver who drives in one Indy 500 race to be Wikipedia material though. Do you know the wikiproject's reasoning for this? Using WP:COMMON, I can't think of any reason why this person is notable enough to be included. How many people would search Wikipedia for a driver like this, one who participated in one professional race in his entire career, and placed 17th? Just a thought. I'm considering withdrawing the nom, seeing as the standards do support its existence. However, I do think that in this particular case, common sense does point to deletion, but that is just my opinion. Regards, FingersOn  Roids♫  23:32, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * You need to take into account that this driver had the peak of his career roughly 100 years ago. Records from that record are spotty. The line between a "professional" and an "amateur" in that era was very blurry. Any person with the financial means to do so could buy a "speedster" and enter a major auto race. We determined that drivers who competed in the Indianapolis 500 were the most famous of their era, as the Indianapolis 500 quickly became the world's most famous race, and are thus notable. -Drdisque (talk) 00:05, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Ok, I understand that references would be particularly hard to find, seeing as this was such a long tome ago. For clarification, are you saying that he could have been notable for competing in other races, but there are no records of it? Wouldn't that go against WP:V? Sorry if I'm being difficult, but I'm still just a little puzzled as to how every single driver who's ever raced in the Indy 500 is notable. FingersOn  Roids♫  00:29, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
 * The Indy 500 is the most famous race in the world (by the numbers). This was undoubtably true prior to 1970. A limited number of drivers can compete in it in a given year. Therefore, we felt confident that the drivers who competed at Indy were the most famous drivers of their era. Also, if you go look at the article, I have found references to other national championship races that he competed in. -Drdisque (talk) 00:35, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Ok, that is fine by me, I'll withdraw the nom. Thanks for clearing it up. FingersOn  Roids♫  22:44, 16 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Keep as per Drdisque. Edward321 (talk) 21:48, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep per Drdisque.Broadweighbabe (talk) 21:55, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep per above. WP:Snowball I'd say.Nrswanson (talk) 23:05, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment - Of course, we should keep this, but because he passes the notability criteria in WP:ATHLETE, not the levels of the WikiProject. The Indy 500 confers a level of professional driving that does merit inclusion in Wikipedia, even if the standards were lower in the early period. JRP (talk)
 * Keep. Meets the criteria in WP:ATHLETE.Inmysolitude (talk) 09:14, 17 March 2009 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.