Jeff Gordon and Travis Kvapil - the leading Ford runner - split Villeneuve from David Reutimann, the next best-placed driver who faces having to qualify for the first five races of the year, while Aric Almirola - in Martin Truex Jr's car rather than the #8 DEI entry he will share with Mark Martin this year - and JJ Yeley completed the day's top ten cumulative list.
The car is fast, so that's going to make it tough," Villeneuve admitted of the challenge awaiting him, "It's a challenge and we're just going to have to rise to it.
"Sponsorship for the #27 programme has not yet been finalised," team owner Davis added, "but we're out talking to companies across a range of categories. The 50th Daytona 500 is a great opportunity to debut as a car sponsor."
Fastest Dodge runner Juan Pablo Montoya finished the day eleventh, with Martin 14th, former champions Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch 17th and 20th respectively and Robby Gordon, back early from Dakar duty, bringing up the rear in 25th as half of the prospective field - including Dale Earnhardt Jr and IRL champions Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish - waits until next week to get a chance to run.
Earnhardt could not keep away from
Daytona, however, flying down to Florida to keep tabs on his new team-mates and get to grips with any problems the CoT may have unearthed on the famous track.
It's painful watching other cars go around the track, especially here at this type of test session so, for him to come down, show the team how committed he is to being up front, winning races and championships, says a lot to the team, his team-mates, to the team members and, I think, to the racing public," Johnson admitted.
Other notable outings came from former Busch Series veteran Jason Keller in the #98 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge, and Kirk Shelmerdine in the #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the pair finishing 16th and 24th respectively.
Leading performances (7 January cumulative) - Daytona:
Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet
48.706s 184.782mph*
Casey Mears Chevrolet
48.761s 184.574mph*
Kyle Busch Toyota
48.896s 184.064mph
AJ Allmendinger Toyota
48.918s 183.981mph
Jacques Villeneuve Toyota
48.973s 183.775mph
Jeff Gordon Chevrolet
49.010s 183.636mph
Travis Kvapil Ford
49.025s 183.580mph
David Reutimann Toyota
49.043s 183.512mph
Aric Almirola Chevrolet
49.082s 183.367mph
JJ Yeley Toyota
49.233s 182.804mph
Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge
49.250s 182.741mph
Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet
49.287s 182.604mph
Elliott Sadler Dodge
49.292s 182.585mph
Mark Martin Chevrolet
49.353s 182.360mph
Joe Nemechek Chevrolet
49.369s 182.301mph
Jason Keller Dodge
49.375s 182.278mph
Matt Kenseth Ford
49.377s 182.271mph
Clint Bowyer Chevrolet
49.402s 182.179mph
Carl Edwards Ford
49.403s 182.175mph
Kurt Busch Dodge
49.408s 182.157mph
Greg Biffle Ford
49.453s 181.991mph*
Kyle Petty Dodge
49.526s 181.723mph
Reed Sorenson Dodge
49.537s 181.682mph
Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet
49.551s 181.631mph
Robby Gordon Ford
49.658s 181.240mph
![Jimmie Johnson - Lowe's Chevrolet [pic credit: image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/279398.jpg)
