LAS VEGAS (AP) — Denny Hamlin was fined $25,000 by NASCAR on Thursday for criticizing the new Gen-6 race car after last week’s race at Phoenix.

NASCAR deemed Hamlin’s remarks as detrimental to stock car racing, and said while drivers get “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.”

Hamlin finished third on Sunday in the second race for NASCAR’s new Gen-6 race car. He was asked on pit road after how he liked the car, and said: “I don’t want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning.”