Did a viral story about Dale Earnhardt Jr. making a fierce statement against the Charlie Kirk shooter come from an actual news source? No, that's not true: The story appeared on a foreign-run clickbait site and Facebook page and showed signs of having been generated using AI. The supposedly viral hashtag #AbsolutelyReady mentioned in the story was not used on X at all since the shooting.
The story appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on a page named "Pit Lane Reports" where it was published on September 12, 2025. It opened:
BREAKING: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Makes Fierce Statement Against Charlie Kirk Shooter. But His Next Action Surprised Everyone Even More. "The Search Was Dramatic"!!
This is what the image in the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Sep 12 22:01:29 2025 UTC)
The text in the image read:
"To Charlie Kirk's shooter: you are a coward. You hid, fired, and ran-yet his words are louder than your bullets. You didn't silence him; you amplified him. CHARLIE's fight is OUR fight, and we will NEVER back down."
The post promoted an article published by a website named USA Hotnewss (archived here) titled:
Breaking News: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Raises Reward to $10,000 for Charlie Kirk Shooter -- When Fans Asked If He Was Denying His Sexuality While Constantly Siding with Anti-LGBT Protesters? He Responded with 2 Words That Shocked Everyone.
It opened:
In a shocking escalation of the manhunt for the individual responsible for the tragic assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has announced he is raising the reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter from $1,000 to a staggering $10,000.
The announcement came during a live-streamed session with fans, where Earnhardt Jr. addressed not only the ongoing investigation but also rumors and questions surrounding his personal motivations and his decisions following the death of his father, racing icon Dale Earnhardt Sr. What began as a conversation about justice quickly turned into an unexpected and revealing moment.
"I want justice for Charlie," Earnhardt Jr. stated firmly, his voice trembling slightly with emotion. "No one should live in fear because someone else believes violence is a solution. We are raising this reward, tenfold, because we believe in the power of people speaking up and helping catch this individual. Every lead matters. Every clue matters. And every dollar now counts more than ever."
Later in the story it mentioned a two-word declaration Earnhardt Jr. supposedly made and a viral hashtag it allegedly spawned:
The two-word declaration, "Absolutely ready," has become emblematic of Earnhardt Jr.'s approach in this tense period: direct, unapologetic, and unwaveringly focused. Supporters have rallied around him, using hashtags like #JusticeForCharlie and #AbsolutelyReady, signaling solidarity with both Earnhardt Jr. and the broader call for accountability.
However a search on x revealed no use of the hashtag #AbsolutelyReady (archived here) since the date of Charlie Kirk's shooting.
According to AI detection tool Hive's browser extension, the entire passage was 87.5% likely the product of AI:
(Image source: Hive browser plugin results for passage in USA Hotnewss story.)
The transparency tab of the Pit Lane Reports Facebook page (archived here) revealed the page was managed by people located in Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
(Image source: screenshot of page transparency tab of Facebook page Pit Lane Reports.)
A Google News search for stories mentioning "Dale Earnhardt Jr." and "Charlie Kirk" did not turn up any news articles (archived here) about any such statement.
