McCain to canvass NASCAR vote at NHMS

LOUDON, N.H. -- Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday to attend the Sylvania 300, the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

No word if McCain will be on hand to support rookie driver Michael McDowell, of Glendale, Ariz., the only driver in the 43-car field from McCain's home state.

McCain will return to the Granite State were his candidacy was given a huge boost -- if not revived -- when he won the primary here.

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Clint Bowyer, winner of last year's Sylvania 300, looks to be a pretty strong contender to win Sunday's race. Bowyer, who was the last man to make the 12-man cut at last Sunday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, was fast in all three practice sessions, turning a fast lap of 130.273 miles per hour during Friday's session.

Bowyer, who won last year's Sylvania 300 pole, likely would've had a chance to contend for the pole were it not for the fact Friday's qualifying session was rained out.

"It is a lot of fun to roll back in here as part of the Chase," said Bowyer, who will start the Chase as the No. 5 seed, 70 points behind top-seeded Kyle Busch (5,080), who was awarded the pole position after the 43-car grid was set based upon the 2008 owner points.

"It is a confidence builder to just be a part of this Chase," Bowyer said. "Getting things started back almost on square one. Obviously, we are 70 points behind the leader, but that is a heck of a lot less than I was. Really looking forward to getting this thing started off right. It all starts right here. This is a very important weekend for us and I really feel like, with our race team, once we get the ball rolling, the sky is the limit. I think we have proved that last year."

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Eddie MacDonald was a repeat winner at NHMS after winning Saturday's Camping World Series East race with a stirring last-lap pass of runner-up Steve Park. MacDonald, a native of Rowley, Mass., recorded his second career triumph at NHMS after winning the Camping World Series event at the 1.058-mile oval in June . . . Ted Christopher, of Plainville, Conn., won Saturday's NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour even, which was interrupted by three red-flag periods and temporarily halted with 38 laps remaining to allow for the Craftsman Truck Series race to be run in its entirety.