Business winners and losers at the halfway point

With the completion of the Best Buy 400 at Dover, we're halfway home in the race for the Chase, and it's time to see who's a winner, who's a contender and who ought to just hope that the No. 18 team gets lost on the way to the track each week.

You know the stories on the track, reading NASCAR.COM each day as all of you ought to, but we're going to change things up this week. Let's take a look at the winners and losers among the sponsors, tracks and those who don't wear helmets every weekend.

WINNERS

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1. M&M's, Snickers, Combos and Mars Inc. When your driver leads the Sprint Cup Series points, has 10 victories in three different series and has won at least once with each of the "trimary" sponsors the team rolls out, you're a winner.

In addition to the victories, there's been controversy (see: Richmond) and a veritable wagon load of laps led, which translates into TV exposure, so it's been a pretty good year for William Clemens and his folks at Mars Inc.

2. AMP/National Guard. When the heir apparent to NASCAR's greatest dynasty leaves the family team and goes to run for the perennial championship contending team, you might as well print your own money. In merchandise alone, there's enough money surrounding the No. 88 driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. to build a house out of $100 bills -- a big house.

Since Pepsico ceded International Speedway Corp. pouring rights to bitter rival Coke this season, they put their money to good use by backing Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports. This is a return on investment that even Jim Cramer could love.

3. Budweiser. Kasey Kahne hadn't made much noise before the annual two-week stop in Charlotte, but by the time the teams left home and went back on the road, he was louder than 3 Doors Down. Winning twice in a row at home will do that for you.

Since Budweiser no longer presents the Bud Pole Award -- that is now the Coors Light Pole Award -- it was up to Kahne to carry Bud colors, and in the first part of the season he wasn't much of a factor. Since the leadership change at Anheuser-Busch placed more of an emphasis on music and concert tours, Kahne was literally singing for his supper, and hitting the high notes on Memorial Day weekend can only be a good thing.

4. Toyota. After a dismal first season in the Sprint Cup Series, the automaker has rebounded to hold the top spot in the points, three of the Chase spots and five total victories in the first 13 races. Plus, Toyotas have won 75 percent of the Nationwide Series events held so far this season.

There were several more, including Yates Racing, which has had one of its cars sponsored most of the year and the other some of the year but both cars are in the top 35. Alltel scored big points with a dramatic victory at Daytona in the 50th Daytona 500, and Office Depot and Aflac were hot for a while when Carl Edwards won two of the first three races.

LOSERS

1. Office Depot. When Carl Edwards and his team were docked 100 points (driver and owner) and the allegations of cheating began to fly, primary sponsor Office Depot took a bit of a beating, PR-wise. It can't be good when your driver, team and owner are thrown under the bus on national TV, and it wasn't.

Next year, Aflac will assume primary sponsorship of the No. 99 and Office Depot is looking elsewhere. One can't blame Office Depot for what happened to cause the penalty, but it happens anyway.

2. Petty Enterprises and the Wood Brothers. Despite Bobby Labonte holding down a top-20 spot in the points, primary sponsor General Mills announced early in the season that it would go to Richard Childress Racing at the end of the season, leaving the Pettys without a primary for the first time since 1972.

Life is hard these days for smaller teams, and the Pettys are a prime example, as are the Wood Brothers. Once the linchpins of the sport, they are increasingly falling victim to the ever-increasing budgets needed to compete on a high level.

3. All the small teams. Some smaller operations have been able, through hard work and grit, to make a go of it in the cutthroat world of Sprint Cup racing. Robby Gordon Motorsports is perhaps the best example, sitting solidly in the top 35, but the majority are hovering around the top 35 cutoff. There's just not enough money to compete and win against mega-teams.

4. Miller Lite. Though Kurt Busch finished second at Daytona, pushing his teammate to victory, the Blue Deuce hasn't been its usual contender much of the season. There are reasons for this -- absolutely no luck in a car that has yet to show it has a sweet spot, let alone where to find it being chief among them.

Miller, like its rival Budweiser, always commands attention, so it's more not living up to some pretty high expectations than anything.

Remember, this is an arbitrary list; no one who competes weekly in NASCAR's top division is really a loser. Business-wise, competition is just as keen off the track as on, and we'll see who swaps lists in the run to the Chase.