Robert Yates Racing has entered Ricky Rudd in the No. 88 for testing at Daytona, seemingly putting an end to the debate over which car number the veteran driver would field in 2007. Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Daytona testing lineup includes Rudd in the 88

The tentative list of drivers who will be cranking up the Nextel Cup season during Preseason Thunder at Daytona on Jan. 8-13 is a virtual Who's Who -- with one significant detail:

Robert Yates Racing has Ricky Rudd entered in the No. 88.

Ricky Rudd

Rudd, who recently signed a one-year contract, drove the No. 28 during his first stint with Yates from 2000-02. After Rudd left, Yates changed the number to 38 with driver Elliott Sadler.

The No. 88 was Dale Jarrett's ride from 1996-2006. Jarrett, who won the '99 Cup championship, left Yates after last season to join Michael Waltrip Racing.

Yates said last month that he was fine with either number -- 28 or 88 -- and in typical Yates fashion addressed the numbers issues in a way that both answered the question (vaguely) yet still left fans wondering, "Which number will it be?"

"It's more about either the grandstands or the marketing -- what's best for the marketing," Yates said, knowing full well the No. 28 is more closely associated with Rudd from a marketing standpoint. "I've been dug down in the middle of the thing.

"I'm good with the 28," he said before adding this caveat: "But the 88 has been our number that we chose. We sort of left that 28 alone when -- good or bad -- we dissolved our relationship at the end of 2002 with Ricky and just sort of chose a new number like the M&M car. I think everybody understands that's the 38 car."

FAN FEST Fans watching Preseason Thunder test sessions also have the chance to ask questions of their favorite drivers.  Among the opportunities: driver question and answer sessions, show cars, bands, a silent auction, displays and pit-stop demonstrations.  Cost is $15 for each sessions. Fans can watch each day's test at no cost, beginning at 9 a.m.  •   Jan. 9: Cup Series Fan Fest  •   Jan. 13: Truck Series Fan Fest  •   Jan. 16: Cup Series Fan Fest  •   Jan. 20-21: Busch Series Fan Fest

Among the notable drivers scheduled for the first testing session are defending series champion Jimmie Johnson and 2006 Chase contenders Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

Tony Stewart's No. 20 will be at Daytona, but the two-time Cup champion won't be for the third consecutive year; Mike McLaughlin will test the car for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Robby Gordon also will skip Daytona testing. He is competing in the prestigious Dakar Rally, which begins Jan. 6 in Lisbon, Portugal, and concludes Jan. 21 in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cape Verde Peninsula on Africa's Atlantic coast. P.J. Jones will test the No. 7 in Gordon's absence.

Twenty-five drivers are on the list for the three-day test session, including three drivers with new cars:

• No. 13 -- Joe Nemechek, Ginn Racing
• No. 44 -- Jarrett, MWR
• No. 83 -- Brian Vickers, Team Red Bull

Nemechek finished 27th in the driver standings and 28th in owner points last year. However, Ginn Racing signed Mark Martin to a part-time gig and put him in the No. 01 car. Relegated to the new No. 13, Nemechek will be hard-pressed to live up to his nickname -- Front Row Joe; he will have to qualify on speed for at least the first five races of the 2007 season.

Vickers finished 15th in the driver and owner standings last year but also will have to qualify on speed for at least the first five races of the season. Ditto Jarrett, who was 23rd in driver points and 22nd in the owner standings.