NASCAR predicts AI to play “a really big role” in evaluating different matters

With the advancement of AI, several fields have adopted the technology. NASCAR could soon join the trend to help officials make changes in competition matters such as playoff format tweaks.

According to NASCAR COO Steve O'Donnell via Adam Stern on X (formerly Twitter), the league sees how AI can be part of making decisions in the future. The use of AI for predictive analysis can provide insights into the risks and rewards of certain changes in competition matters.

O'Donnell believes AI can be a big part of the sport moving forward, saying:

"Just around racing, the strategy that now goes into a race, how that applies to our formats of the future, I think AI can play a really big role in that."

The NASCAR chief added:

"When we created even the stages or playoff format, you did that with the best data you had and best minds you had, but now being able to plug in and work with AI in terms of, 'OK, if you tweak the playoffs this way, what should we be watching out for' or 'How could that affect the sport?'"

He concluded by saying that AI can also help the sport by growing the 'business side of things.'

"There's so much data and technology out there that you can now throw into a model, I think it's going to be very helpful in looking at some predictive analysis of where the sport can go in the future and then there's the whole business side of things too."

AI isn't the only technology NASCAR is looking at for digital transformation. Earlier this month, NASCAR president Steve Phelps revealed the $50 million investment for an internet connection during race weekends.

The internet connection should help the sport reach more audiences by allowing fans to share on-track action with the digital world. However, the investment was good for 12 racetracks only for now.

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NASCAR community reacted to false facts about Texas race from Elon Musk's AI tool

AI may have reached greater heights but the technology is still far from being fully developed. During the Texas Motor Speedway race weekend, Elon Musk's Grok on X provided AI-generated summaries of the event but the NASCAR community spotted some factual errors.

Grok stated Denny Hamlin won over Tyler Reddick in the headline. However, the summary later said Reddick was victorious at the Autotrader EchoPark 400 when Chase Elliott was the actual winner.

NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck shared the post containing the false AI-generated race summary from X.

Kaulig Racing replied to the post by providing another example of its inaccuracy.

"It's impressively bad," Kaulig Racing wrote.

Brad Keselowski finished second at Texas Motor Speedway followed by William Byron. Tyler Reddick secured fourth, while Daniel Suarez completed the top 5 finishers' list.

Denny Hamlin, meanwhile, crashed from second with two laps remaining. The No. 11 Toyota pilot was following Elliott before getting loose and losing positions. He finished 30th, which was not even close to what the AI-generated summary stated.