[EricH]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

1998 was the year the numbers became permanent. You can see the original 1998 team list here:

http://web.archive.org/web/199805290.../teamlist.html

Clearly, numbers were assigned in alphabetical order according to sponsor at some point during the registration, but also there are a number at the bottom after X-Cats who don't fit the pattern, presumably because they registered after the initial list was sorted and numbers were assigned.

Team 82 on that list got a different number the next year for some reason--I think that was the year that their primary sponsor changed names. They're now known as 330.