FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It's too early to tell what NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Carl Edwards' back-to-back wins in the past month will do for sales at Office Depot Inc., the company that sponsors his No. 99 Ford.

But officials at the Delray Beach, Fla.,-based office products supplier are practically imitating Edwards' signature back flips, since he's solidly in the running for the Nextel Cup Championship, which will be decided Sunday at the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After all, Office Depot is a NASCAR novice, entering the sport after careful study of the potential returns from sponsoring a sport with television ratings behind only the NFL.

The company became NASCAR's "official office products partner" in a multiyear deal announced in January and sponsored Edwards' car for more than half his races this year.

"We did a survey and found out that if we sponsored NASCAR, 44 percent of the people shopping at our competitors said they'd switch (to Office Depot)" said Tony Ueber, Office Depot vice president of marketing.

NASCAR has touted its fan brand loyalty for years, but a study by the University of Missouri-Kansas City out this year found that NASCAR sponsorships can boost a company's stock value as well.

According to the study of 24 companies, which announced primary sponsorships of NASCAR cars between 1995 and 2001, more than two-thirds saw net gains in stock value in excess of $300 million each. If the company was in the automotive industry — Ford or ExxonMobil, for example — the gains were even higher, at more than $500 million.

"I expected the opposite," said Stephen W. Pruitt, finance professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the study's lead author. "I thought they would go down. These are major programs costing $30 million a year in some cases."

Primary car sponsorships — the company's logo appears on the car's hood — typically run $10 million to $20 million a year on NASCAR's premier Nextel Cup circuit. Pruitt said the study found that even the largest investments paid off for shareholders.

Automotive companies and corporations that used their parent names, rather than individual product names, did better. Returns were also higher for companies sponsoring winning teams, despite the higher costs for the sponsorship.

"What this basically means is not all NASCAR sponsorships are the same," Pruitt said.

Ueber said Office Depot's stock price has risen this year due to "several initiatives," not just the NASCAR sponsorship. He said the company isn't focusing on how the sponsorship is affecting its stock price, but instead is tracking sales and shifts in market share. It is running advertising, and conducting in-store promotions and appearances by Edwards.

The company also invited its small business customers to enter an "official small business of NASCAR" contest and allowed the winner, Fort Bend Lock & Key of Houston, to put its logo on the back of Edwards' car during a race at Darlington Raceway in May. The locksmith company's owners Corey and Taryn Reynolds got to include the "Official Small Business of NASCAR courtesy of Office Depot" on stationery and business cards.

"A lot of our customers saw us on television and we had people out of the blue we went to high school with calling us," Taryn Reynolds said. "It's been a really great marketing tool for us."

Office Depot has expanded the contest to five other markets and Trinity Services Group, a Homestead real estate services company, will be featured on Edwards' car Sunday.

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc., also entered NASCAR for the first time this year as the "official drive-thru and burger" of the sport and tracks owned or operated by International Speedway Corp. Rich Turer, vice president of marketing for the Tampa company, said NASCAR was a natural after sponsoring Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003.

"After a year and a half, we doubled our brand awareness," Turer said of the Indianapolis sponsorship.

In February, Checkers named a combo meal the "NASCAR combo."

"We did in fact hit a 52-week high in our stock price when we announced the relationship with NASCAR," Turer said.

Although it hadn't planned to sponsor a car, Checkers also got the opportunity to put its name on cars in five races, including the Ford 400 where Kyle Petty will drive the No. 45 Checkers University of Florida Dodge and Scott Riggs will be in the No. 10 Checkers Florida State University Chevrolet. The Gators and Seminoles paint schemes will promote Checkers' "Pick Your Champ" promotion and the Nov. 26 football game between the state rivals.