NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Hamlin Fined, Says He Won’t Pay
NASCAR took issue with critical comments made by Denny Hamlin after the race at Phoenix...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 07, 2013   Las Vegas, NV
NASCAR President Mike Helton (right) and Denny Hamlin (left) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday after NASCAR fined Hamlin $25k for comments the driver made after the race in Phoenix. (Photo: Lesley Miller/LAT Photographic)
Driver Denny Hamlin has been fined $25,000 by NASCAR for comments the sanctioning body considers detrimental to the sport, and Hamlin responded angrily Thursday, saying he won’t pay the fine.

Hamlin finished third in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Phoenix but wasn’t too impressed with the new Gen-6 car at its first non-restrictor-plate track.

Some of Hamlin’s comments:

“I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our Generation-Five (Car of Tomorrow) cars. This is more like what the Generation-Five was at the beginning. 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.

“It's frustrating because you can catch a guy, you just can't pass him. Once you get in his wake, there's just no getting around him. That's just something that's a byproduct of a new car that we really haven't developed all that much. A very, very hard tire from Goodyear – especially on the left side. We've got to get that softer. Once we do that, you'll have some tire wear and overtaking like there's supposed to be."

In a statement released Thursday, NASCAR called Hamlin’s comments “disparaging.”

“Following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event last Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway,” the NASCAR statement read, “Denny Hamlin made some disparaging remarks about the on-track racing that had taken place that afternoon. While NASCAR gives its competitors ample leeway in voicing their opinions when it comes to a wide range of aspects about the sport, the sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product.”

SPEED Quotes: Kyle Petty Voices Support For Hamlin

Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Sprint Cup teams were testing, Hamlin said the fine has angered him, telling media members he would not pay it and adding that NASCAR can suspend him.

"This is the most upset and angry I've been in a really long time,” Hamlin said. “... It was an opinion, not even a bad one."

NASCAR vice president Robin Pemberton said Hamlin has the ability to appeal the fine. In an afternoon press conference, Pemberton defended the NASCAR action.

“We give them (drivers) quite a bit of latitude, but you can’t slam your racing,” he said. “You can’t slam your product. That’s where it crosses the line.

“Constructive criticism is one thing, but there are different statements that people make that are damaging. We won’t tolerate those types of things.”

The fine signals that NASCAR apparently is adopting a very protective stance in relation to its new Sprint Cup car, one that the sanctioning body believes will offer significantly better racing, particularly at the circuit’s intermediate tracks. The first big test in that arena will come Sunday at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track.

The Phoenix race had 12 lead changes among nine drivers. There was little competition at the front until the closing laps. Race winner Carl Edwards led 122 of the 316 laps.

If Hamlin does not pay the fine (all fines go to the NASCAR Foundation charity), the money can be deducted from race winnings.

Hamlin also said he would not discuss competition – except in the cases of wins – for the rest of the year.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 31 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

Official NASCAR Statement
Denny Hamlin's $25,000 fine from NASCAR has been headline news. (Photo: Getty Images)

NASCAR has fined driver Denny Hamlin $25,000 for comments he made following the March 3 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.

NASCAR determined that Hamlin violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) of the 2013 NASCAR Rule Book.

NASCAR issued the following statement regarding the penalty:

“Following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event last Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, Denny Hamlin made some disparaging remarks about the on-track racing that had taken place that afternoon. While NASCAR gives its competitors ample leeway in voicing their opinions when it comes to a wide range of aspects about the sport, the sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product.”
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