“People’s feeds are filled with this because it gets engagement, and the algorithm is prioritizing this c— over real news. It’s pretty scary.” That’s NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck calling out the last wave of AI-generated news that took on a life of its own about a month ago. Now, the Internet is back, this time with an even wilder chapter in the saga of fabricated NASCAR drama.

It’s ridiculous. It’s absurd. But most importantly, it got plenty of clicks. This kind of manufactured clickbait isn’t just fluff; it’s a new breed of misinformation that preys on fans, drives engagements, and buries real stories under a mountain of fabricated chaos.

NASCAR community reports the best AI news of the week

AI-generated hoaxes have become rampant across social media, spinning outlandish tales from false driver suspensions to fake illnesses and bogus drama. Jeff Gluck and Kelly Crandall, two prominent NASCAR journalists, have raised major concerns about how AI-generated nonsense is muddying the waters. It’s not just a fan page; even broadcasters have gotten it wrong. FOX Sports faced backlash during COTA coverage for using AI-generated graphics that look cheap and robotic, sparking ridicule from fans who wanted authentic imagery.

When Kenny Wallace hopped onto X to highlight the carnage, he knew he was unlocking a treasure trove. Wallace wrote on X, “Social media is becoming a mine field with all the Artificial Intelligence. @BubbaWallace does not like the white flag etc. @KyleBusch saves a starving family . Oh. And @chaseelliott is in there too. THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER HAS RETURNED.” The thread filled up with gems like, “Bigfoot found at Chicagoland! @RyanPreece_ gives it a ride outside the lost oval!” And “Dale Jr. is donating $50 million to help the Texas floods. People on FB calling me names because I said that was fake news. lol.” 

One fan took to the comment section with immense sarcasm, writing, “Kyle Busch saved me from a burning building once, and when we got out, he gave me his car. Later, he gave me surgery on my bunk knee and now I can walk without a limp. What a guy.” The punchline is a hit, but it’s the commentary that leads some fans to believe that Kyle Busch rescued someone from a burning building, which sounds like something Superman would do. Amazing, right?

Then, wild claims of Brad Keselowski getting fined and suspended spread during a qualifying session, painting a bad-boy image. One fan backed it up with, “I like the one that said after Atlanta, Brad Keselowski was fined $250,000 and suspended for 2 races at the same time he was qualifying in Chicago. I deleted it and blocked that site.”

These headlines had fans wrestling between finding it hilarious and face-palming themselves. The AI took things even further, with one fan claiming three driver adventures in Mexico City. One fan wrote, “Apparently, 3 drivers all checked into the hotel in Mexico City with the same unnamed adult film star. Also, like 11 different people, including Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, left a server a $900 tip!” AI really fears no one.

A weekly world news-worthy headline, as one fan said, “Wait until we get the Weekly World News back.” @sam_mayer_ -faced moon to scrape Earth in 3 days. Preparations underway for years on secret bunker underneath @EchoParkSpdwy. ” 🤣😆🤣😆” AI seems to have spared no one. One user joked about Bubba Wallace, saying, “The scary thing is how many people in the comments think it’s real. ‘Bubba Wallace not interested in winning until the white flag is eliminated’ 😂. Yeah, he’s just out there driving in circles being p—- about the last lap. 🙄”

And, of course, nobody could forget what AI had to say about Hendrick Motorsport’s star, Chase Elliott. One fan informed the NASCAR community of his ‘great feat,’ writing “@chaseelliott adopted a kid in Africa this week according to Facebook. I knew he was a stand up guy but this is just next level.” A heartwarming tale with no basis in fact, yet enough clicks to feed the rumor mill. But truth be told, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s saga nearly spun out of control.

Last month, an AI-generated story claimed Junior had adopted two boys in a tear-jerker story that Kelley Earnhardt Miller had to come out and debunk, calling it “mind-boggling” that fans even fell for it. The fabricated headlines ranged from bizarre to deeply personal, but all were designed to hijack attention and spit out revenue for ghost sites.

Kenny and the community are left rolling their eyes, but with a warning. These stories don’t just provoke laughs; they bleed into fan reactions and comments where shock and anger mask the truth. The onslaught of AI-generated clickbait isn’t a novelty; it’s a threat to NASCAR’s reputation and the credibility of its fan base. And it’s not slowing down unless we click less, question more, and keep real news front and center.

However, if used the right way, AI is not as bad as we think. NASCAR teams have found a better way to use AI and harness it to benefit them on race weekends.

Teams break down how they use AI

Artificial intelligence has become the most powerful tool in NASCAR’s ongoing pursuit of speed, precision, and efficiency. As traditional margins shrink and the next-gen car levels the field, teams are digging deeper into data, and AI is transforming every aspect of racing, from strategy to internal operations. Josh Sell, RFK Racing’s competition director, notes, “It just builds a little bit more each year. We’re doing more now than we were a year ago. And we’ll probably be doing more a year from now than we are sitting here right now. It just continues to evolve.”

AI is now passing not just lap time and telemetry, but also the tone and urgency of team communications. This emotional layer of analysis helps identify not only what calls are made during a race but also how confidently and effectively they were executed. Tom Gray, Hendrick Motorsports’ technical director, says, “He who can distill the information quicker and get to the decision quicker, ultimately, is going to have the race win.”

In an environment where every second counts, data of fluency is becoming just as wide as mechanical setup. Teams like RFK Racing are applying AI to compress hours of analysis into minutes, giving engineers and crew chiefs more time to act. Instead of manually combing through footage, AI highlights the most critical visuals, freeing up brainpower for real-time decisions. Sell explains, “It’s trying to figure out ways where, instead of having a crew chief spending three hours studying whatever it might be, photos, videos, if we can shorten that to an hour of really impactful time.”

Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports is pushing AI even further, using it to visualize technical concepts, back-test strategies, and extract wisdom from four decades of archived data. Their collaboration allows engineers to create intuitive visuals and stimulate outcomes by analyzing the past through a modern lens. Gray says, “Not only can we look forward, but we can also look backward, back-test all the information we have, and see how that predicts the future.” In this new era of NASCAR, the edge no longer lies solely under the hood; it lies in the code. What do you think of the impact of AI on NASCAR? Let us know in the comments!