NASCAR fines Denny Hamlin $25,000 for anti-Gen 6 comments
Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports2:12p.m. EST March 7, 2013
His post-race comments about the new model, in which Hamlin said it was hard to pass and the car wasn't as racy as its predecessor, get him in trouble.
Denny Hamlin's public view on the new Gen 6 car earned him a $25,000 fine.(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports)
Story Highlights
- Hamlin said the new Gen 6 car isn't as racy as its predecessor
- He made comments after the Sprint Cup race on Sunday
- Hamlin finished third Sunday, but said he couldn't pass
LAS VEGAS -- NASCAR is not going to tolerate its drivers publicly criticizing the new Gen 6 cars.
The sanctioning body fined Denny Hamlin $25,000 on Thursday for
comments he made on pit road following Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
Hamlin said NASCAR's new cars did not race as good as the old cars and criticized the quality of the racing.
NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said such talk goes beyond the limits of what drivers are permitted to say.
"You can voice your opinion about a lot of things about this sport -- and we feel like we give our competitors a great deal of leeway when it comes to that -- (but) denigrating the racing is an area we're going to have a reaction to," Tharp told a small group of reporters at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin finished third Sunday after starting at the rear of the field but said he gained his positions via pit strategy and others' mistakes, not by passing cars.
Though other drivers also noted how difficult it was to pass at Phoenix, Tharp said Hamlin's comments crossed the line and was viewed as an "attack" on NASCAR's on-track product.
NASCAR publicly encourages its drivers to show personality and be themselves, but has been quick to react with fines when drivers go too far.
Hamlin was secretly fined $50,000 in 2010 for tweets suggesting NASCAR issues phantom cautions.
"I do believe we give our drivers a lot of flexibility when it comes to that, whether it be about officiating or about how a race is called," Tharp said. "The main area of focus here we take exception to is the product, the racing. That's our brand, that's the drivers' brand, that's the sport's brand and that's an area we feel very strongly about."
After Phoenix, Hamlin said he didn't want to be a "Denny Downer" but said the Gen 6 car "did not race as good as our Generation 5 cars."
"This is more like what the Generation 5 was at the beginning," he said. "The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you. You would have placed me in 20th place with 30 (laps) to go, I would have stayed there -- I wouldn't have moved up. It's just one of those things where track position is everything."
Hamlin was fined under Section 12-1 of the NASCAR Rule Book (actions detrimental to stock car racing). Tharp said drivers are always invited to share their concerns privately with NASCAR officials.
Hamlin's No. 11 team is among those testing today at Las Vegas, trying to gather more information on the new model in an attempt to improve the Gen 6 car. Sunday's Cup race will be the first run on a 1.5-mile track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in December that he was impressed with the new model and thought it had great potential.
Before Hamlin's public comments Sunday, most drivers had been talking the company line after test sessions at Daytona and Charlotte.
Even after NASCAR's crown jewel -- the Daytona 500 -- opened the season on Feb. 24, drivers were careful to reserve judgment on the new model, saying it was too early to tell if passing would be improved.
