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IndyCar officials have made efforts to distance themselves from a social media post by the Department of Homeland Security, which used IndyCar imagery to tout plans for the "Speedway Slammer," a planned immigration detention facility in Miami County, Indiana 75 miles north of Indianapolis. The DHS used an AI-generated image of an IndyCar-style vehicle racing in front of a prison-like building, with the IndyCar featuring ICE sponsorship logos.

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 expressed surprise that its imagery and likeness was used for the announcement and said it has expressed 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 yesterday's announcement," IndyCar's statement read. "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." 

The "Speedway Slammer" is the latest immigration detention facility touted by the Department of Homeland Security as part of the U.S. Government's crackdown on illegal immigration, following the establishment of "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Fla. A DHS spokesperson had said there were no plans to change the imagery used in response to IndyCar, but the post containing the image was deleted from X by Friday afternoon.

Coincidentally, the car number in the "Speedway Slammer" AI image is No. 5, the same number used by IndyCar star Pato O'Ward -- a native of Monterrey, Mexico. Speaking to reporters in Texas, O'Ward said he had been texted about the DHS post by a friend, and that he hadn't read into it too much "because I don't think I want to."

"It caught a lot of people off guard. Definitely caught me off guard," O'Ward said, per the Associated Press. "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 has established himself as one of IndyCar's top drivers thanks in large part to his success in the Indianapolis 500, as he was the race's Rookie of the Year in 2020 before finishing second in both 2022 & 2024 and third this past May. O'Ward is currently second in the IndyCar championship standings, though Indy 500 winner Alex Palou is in position to clinch the championship as early as this weekend in Portland.