by Weaber Valley Speedway Scam Fooled Television Channel
Perfection of Artificial Intelligence in the Automotive World
Artificial intelligence is getting better every minute. In the automotive world, one of the brightest examples of this is the Weaber Valley Speedway hoax. Social media channels created by Howard Weaver often look convincing but are obviously satirical.
Imperceptible Satire Taken for Truth
In one of the recent posts, the satire was so subtle that NBC Chicago decided it was true and reported it as a real event. The original video, published on Facebook on October 15, showed the lights going out during the “607 Late Models” race at the track.
Absurd Explanation from the Page Creator
“We apologize for the power outage during the 607 Late Models race on Saturday evening. The energy company continues to turn off the lights for a few seconds every week, trying to scare us into paying the bill. All drivers who crashed were given an extra $5 after the race.”
Television Report About a Fictional Event
About a week later, NBC 5 Chicago showed this footage on air, accompanying it with comments from the host who described it as a real event. The TV host stated: “You won’t believe it, but during the race the lights went out, and the result, as you can imagine, is one big mess.”
Fictional Backstory from the Television Channel
The report even added a fictional backstory: “Later we learned that the energy company in the area was turning off the lights to scare the track owners and force them to pay electricity bills on time. The track then gave an extra $5 to every car that crashed for repair work.”
Satirical Project’s Reaction
Weaber Valley Speedway, known online for its deliberately flawed updates, incredible race names, and fictional events, reacted in its signature deadpan style. They wrote: “Thank you NBC News for covering our recent power outage during the race, but that was that embarrassing moment we didn’t want to see on national news.”
Reminder of Media Vulnerability
Although NBC 5 did not comment on this confusion, this moment serves as a reminder that even major media can fall into the trap of good old Facebook parody, especially one that has been honing its craft for many years.
The NBC Chicago incident demonstrates how vulnerable even professional media can be to carefully crafted hoaxes in the digital age. Similar cases are becoming more frequent with technological development and the increasing speed of information dissemination. This underscores the importance of fact-checking and critical thinking not only for journalists but also for news consumers, especially when it comes to content from social networks that can combine plausibility with humor.
