IndyCar Expresses Concern Over 'Speedway Slammer' Branding

IndyCar was surprised when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used an AI-generated race bearing the agency’s logo to promote plans for the “Speedway Slammer,” a planned immigration detention facility in Miami County, Indiana 75 miles north of Indianapolis.

Following Tuesday’s announcement by the Department of Homeland Security that it plans to expand detention space by about 1,000 beds at the Miami Correctional Facility in partnership with the state of Indiana, IndyCar was caught off guard and expressed disapproval of its imagery and likeness being used for the announcement and said that it would prefer not to have its intellectual property used in connection with the project.

“We were unaware of plans to incorporate our imagery as part of (the Aug. 5) announcement,” Penske Entertainment said in a statement provided to IndyStar. “Consistent with our approach to public policy and political issues, we are communicating our preference that our IP not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.”

IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward, a native of Mexico and the only Mexican driver in the series, was also shocked by the post, particularly because of the use of his number on the AI generated car.

“It caught a lot of people off guard. Definitely caught me off guard,” O’Ward said Wednesday. “I was just a little bit shocked at the coincidences of that and, you know, of what it means. … I don’t think it made a lot of people proud, to say the least.”

O’Ward said he didn’t see the post until a friend texted him about it.

“I haven’t really read into it too much because I don’t think I want to,” he said.

IndyCar Expresses Concern Over ‘Speedway Slammer’ Branding  was originally published on wibc.com