Pruett and team penalised for Sonoma error.

Winston Cup rookie Scott Pruett and his fledgling team, PPI Motorsports, have been handed a $50,000 fine and penalised 50 points after their Tide sponsored Ford Taurus was found to have an illegal braking system on their car after the Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears Point last weekend.

The system, which has been described by NASCAR officials as an "illegal liquid brake cooling device," was accidentally left on the car from a recent test in South Carolina. The device, which the team say they added to the car in order for it to get through the testing, was disconnected but had not been removed completely.

The fine is the second $50,000 amount to be handed out by NASCAR this year. Jeremy Mayfield's crew chief, Peter Sospenzo, was also fined when illegal fuel was found in Mayfield's car after the Die Hard 500 at Talladega.

As in Mayfield's case, the fine has been given directly to Pruett's crew chief, Joe Garone although unlike Sospenzo, Garone has escaped a suspension.

"It was a system which was on our car at Kershaw when we tested so that we could run our brake ducts completely closed up and still cool the brakes," said Garone. "They [NASCAR] do have a rule that says 'any pieces that are left, whether they are operational or not, they're illegal," he added.

Pruett is undergoing a trying rookie season in the Winston Cup and has struggled to run consistently in large groups of cars for long periods of time, a skill of the upmost importance in NASCAR circles. His team are also new to stock car racing, having followed the driver from CART at the end of last season. Pruett is currently sitting in 38th place in the Winston Cup standings.