DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Practice began bright and early Monday for the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season with an eight-hour session at the Daytona International Speedway.
Drivers scheduled to test this week are Jimmie Johnson, Mike McLaughlin, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman, Jeremy Mayfield, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, two-time Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, David Stremme, Reed Sorenson, Ken Schrader, Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott, Greg Sacks and Scott Wimmer.
Next week the remainder of the full-time teams, including Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, are set to test.
There are a lot of drivers with different teams in 2006.
Stewart, the defending Nextel Cup champion, will have two inexperienced teammates -- rookies J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin.
