NASCAR fans aren’t sure what to make of reports that Trackhouse Racing is looking to utilize AI to help make future on-track decisions.
AI is seemingly everywhere nowadays, with integration in operating systems, search engines, and many other aspects of everyday life.
Furthermore, traditional stick and ball sports are no strangers to this integration, with all signs pointing to motorsports as another route of implementation for technology.
In a recent post from Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, who owns teams in NASCAR and MotoGP, said the team is working on an AI System that would help them create on-track decisions based on past data.
Though this seems somewhat harmless, some NASCAR fans online have taken issue with this decision, specifically a quote in which Marks said the AI will do the work of a larger workforce without that workforce.
For example, some fans are taking issue with how it could replace jobs already present in the industry, with user @Giosomethingidk responding to a mock quote saying “‘We’re lazy so we’re gonna let ai do the jobs of a lot people, that way we can save money too’.”
Others seem to believe that this is set up to fail, with users like @yancy60 saying, “Great news! I am in favor of every opportunity for AI to make a giant f**king embarrassment of itself in as many public ways as possible.”
User @AlanWelchel seemed to tie the introduction of AI to the broader issues facing NASCAR regarding its disjointed connection with its traditional fan base. They posted, “Nothing will bring back blue collar fans from the Heartland better than AI from Silicon Valley.”
Nonetheless, fans seem to be laughing about the matter as well, with some joking that AI, which some still deem inconsistent and imperfect, could lead to some poor decision-making on track.
Though fans, as usual, may have a strong feeling about the use of AI in NASCAR, others do seem optimistic, like user @Logan_Dernoshek, who said, “I wondered when this would happen. I hope it pays dividends!”
After all, this is not the first time a form of Artificial Intelligence has been used in the NASCAR decision-making process.
Sportscar Mechanic and Pit Crew Member Bozi Tatarevic, who is well-known for his insights into the mechanical side of the sport (specifically in regards to rules and those that make the decisions and pit the cars), was quick to point out that AI (though it may not have been as advanced as it is today) has been used by NASCAR teams for nearly a decade.
For example, an AI-based system helped Ryan Newman score his final career win at Phoenix Raceway in 2017, a win that also helped Richard Childress Racing snap a multi-year losing streak.
Though NASCAR fans, who see changes to their favorite sport as often as any, tend to push back on modernization, it seemed that AI integration, at least the latest form of AI, was bound to find NASCAR at some point.
Though we don’t know how Trackhouse will use AI, or if it will even be effective, its implementation, just like the aero-wars of the past, is just another step in the ongoing war for speed in the NASCAR garage area.
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