[Jeff Waegelin]

As far as I know, prior to the 1998 season, teams received a different number each year. In 1998, the numbers we now see were assigned alphabetically, based on sponsor, up through the low 200s. So, teams like "3-Dimensional Services and OTC Northwest" (1) got lower numbers than, say, "Delphi and Pontiac Central HS" (47). From that point on, new teams received the next available number in the order that they registered. When a team dropped out, the number was not reused. Changing sponsors also required a new number (for a while), as they were considered to be a new team. So, the number of teams that "dropped out" is somewhere in the 300s, since there are 1200+ numbers, 800+ teams, minus some of the numbers that got changed due to sponsor changes. Does that help explain it a little?