Denny Hamlin quickly took to Twitter to shut down a rumor that he had cheated at the 2026 All-Star Race in Dover. Turns out, it all started with AI and went right out of control.

It was initially claimed that Chase Briscoe had attempted bravery and claimed that Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing had somehow conjured up a “mysterious device” that they had attached to their No. 11 Toyota.

"I knew we would eventually get caught. Just didn’t think it would be a teammate that ratted us out," Hamlin replied with sarcasm.

It didn’t even end there. Online chatter went on to suggest that NASCAR had now started an investigation after it received credible “video evidence” from Briscoe.

The graphic just went viral on X just because of how real it looked. Add to this the fact that Hamlin dominated at Dover, leading around 103 laps, and people were almost close to believing it.

An online parody account titled “dale tanhardt” reposted the image with a very sarcastic caption that directly targeted Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Earlier, Chase Briscoe had already publicly confirmed the post was fake by writing, “AI posts are out of control 😂.”

The entire incident quickly became one of NASCAR’s funniest social media moments of the season while also exposing how rapidly AI-generated misinformation is now spreading through motorsports communities online.

Other Sports Are Already Fighting AI Fake News

This issue with AI-created misinformation is just spreading like wildfire, representing a bigger issue in global sports.

Take, for example, in Australia, both the AFL and NRL were forced to intervene after dozens of fake Facebook sports pages began posting AI-generated stories impersonating legitimate outlets.

"The NRL is aware of several fake accounts impersonating NRL clubs and sharing false, harmful content, including fabricated news," an NRL spokesman told The Australian.

This problem got so serious that NRL officials were forced to directly work with Meta to remove such pages that were displaying this “inauthentic behavior.”

"The NRL has reported these accounts and offending posts to Meta. We have been and will continue to work closely with Meta to have them removed," the spokesperson added.

What has terrified such sports leagues around the world is the speed. Fake stories stay up online for hours before being faced with credibility, just playing with fans’ trust or even sponsorship deals.

If not fixed, this could present itself as a major barrier to sports progression, thereafter needing to be addressed urgently. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore