hearing the #32 Tide Ford driven by Scott Pruett had some sort of brake system cooled by the radiator(and the engine cooling system) at Sears Point. Also hearing the car had a different type of wiring harness that NASCAR didn’t say was illegal but told the team not to show up at Daytona with it UPDATE: NASCAR officials announced Tuesday they have penalized #32 Cup crew chief Joe Garone for an illegal liquid brake cooling device discovered in post-race inspection at Sears Point. Garone, crew chief of the #32 PPI Motorsports/Tide Ford, was fined $50,000. In addition to the fine, driver Scott Pruett will suffer a loss of 50 driver points and a reduction of 50 owner points also has been levied against car owner Cal Wells. Garone was penalized under Section 12-4-Q in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book: “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that parts and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform… or have not been approved by NASCAR…”(NASCAR PR) The loss of owners points drops the team one spot behind the #27 Eel River Racing team in the provisionals, could be costly if the team doesn’t qualify well in the next few weeks. The Provisional/Owners Points page and the Drivers Point Page have been updated to reflect the point deduction(6-27-2000) UPDATE 2: When contacted for comment, Garone indicated that the pieces found were a pump and vacuum line which had been disconnected but not removed from the car following tests at Carolina Motorsports Park near Kershaw, S.C.(SpeedVision)(6-28-2000) UPDATE 3: The following comments were issued Wednesday by PPI Motorsports team owner Cal Wells III regarding the NASCAR-assessed penalty against crew chief Joe Garone and the team: “What NASCAR has termed as ‘an illegal liquid brake cooling device’ was an inoperable pump and tubing, which were remnants of a removed brake mist cooling system that was used in the car during a Monday, June 19 test at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. We used a brake mist cooling system during that test to preserve the brakes while we conducted a final round of aero mapping and gear testing on our sole road course Cup car. The key components of the system, including its activation elements, were removed from the car before it was transported to Sears Point. The pump and tubing, which were not connected to each other or to the brakes and thus completely disabled, were left in the car due to the tight turnaround after the Pocono rain delay. Leaving those two elements in the car, however inoperable, was our oversight. We regret the error.”(PPI Motorsports PR)(6-29-2000)
