MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Dave Fuge, manager and crew chief for XPress Racing, said Thursday the team has discontinued operations and is looking for a new owner.

The shutdown came in the wake of Fuge, a former Winston Cup car owner, being fined $30,000 and suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on Tuesday for rules violations discovered during an inspection after Saturday night's Busch Series Outback Steakhouse 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Fuge was penalized for using unapproved rollbars in the Chevrolet driven by Tim Sauter.

"Yes, the team's for sale," Fuge said Thursday. "If we can't sell the team then we're going to have to sell all the equipment. Meanwhile, we're trying to find jobs for our employees. They've been good and loyal people and we don't want to just shut the doors and turn them out.

"But with the economy the way it is, it's going to be hard to find somebody to buy. Right now, there's a lot of Busch teams looking for money."

The team, currently owned by Missouri trucking executive Steve Coulter, was penalized 60 owner points and the car was relegated to a last-place finish, costing it another 39 owner points in the NASCAR Busch Series. Sauter was also penalized 60 points in the driver standings.

Fuge said the ruling is being appealed.

He said the No. 61 Chevy was built in-house and the alleged rules violation was holes drilled at the welded joints in the rollbar during the construction process.

"I've been a member (of NASCAR) over 25 years and I have a car-building background," Fuge said. "Building the rollbars with holes at the joints is something that has been done for years in sprint cars and Modified and other forms of racing. It vents the gases from the welds and doesn't do anything to weaken the structure.

"We were just trying to build the best car we could build. I studied the rule book before we started to make sure everything was done right, and everything on the car specs out," added Fuge, who said he's never been in trouble with NASCAR in his career. "The construction technique was different, but the car, if anything, was more safe."