- NBC Chicago aired a fake Weaber Valley Speedway video as real news.
- The satirical track by Howard Weaver has fooled people online for years.
- News station reported the “power company revenge” story before noticing.
Artificial intelligence is getting better and better every moment. In the automotive world, one of the very best examples of that is the Weaber Valley Speedway hoax.
The social media channels created by Howard Weaver are often convincing but obviously satirical. In one recent post, the satire was so subtle that NBC Chicago thought it was real and reported it as such.
The original video, posted on Facebook on October 15, showed the lights going out at the track mid-race during a “607 Late Models” feature. In typical fashion, page creator Weaver captioned the clip with a misspelled and absurd explanation.
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“We are sorry for the Power outtage in the 607 Late Models race Sat nite. The power copany keeps cuttin the lites for a few secs every week to try to indimitate us into payin the bill. All drivers who was in the wreak was given 5$ extra after the race.”
Roughly a week later, NBC 5 Chicago ran the footage during a broadcast, complete with an anchor’s commentary describing it as a real event. “You’re not going to believe it,” the anchor said. “The lights go out during the race and the result, as you can imagine, is one big mess.”
The broadcast even doubled down with a backstory: “We later found out that the power company in the area cut the lights to intimidate the track owners into paying their electrical bill on time. The track then gave each car in the wreck an extra $5 to go towards repair work.”
Weaber Valley Speedway, known online for its intentionally misspelled updates, outrageous race names, and made-up events, responded in its trademark deadpan humor. “Thank u NBC News covering r recent power outage during the race but this was a embarrassing moment we didnt want to be on natonal news.”
While NBC 5 hasn’t commented on the mix-up, the moment serves as a reminder that even major outlets can fall for a good old-fashioned Facebook parody, especially one that’s been perfecting its act for years. May AI have mercy on all of our souls.
Sources: An X User, Stockcarreport
