LOUDON — Drivers from NASCAR's national series ranks will invade the Whelen Modified Tour at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the fifth year in a row Saturday.

Points leader Ted Christopher and the other full-time modified competitors will try to keep the outsiders winless.

Sprint Cup drivers Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne are on the entry list for the New England 100, to be run Saturday at 1 p.m. in Loudon. But history runs against Cup drivers who decide to take on the Modified Tour. Five have competed overall — including Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards — but none have won and only Stewart has a top-10 finish. The average finish for a Cup driver in a modified car is 26th entering the weekend.

Newman made his Modified Tour debut at New Hampshire last September and will be back in the No. 7 Modified for more in 2009.

"I have really had a blast racing the Modified," he said. "I got my first chance in the car last year at New Hampshire, and we were able to get the pole."

Having never strapped into a modified before qualifying day last year, Newman was fastest in practice and earned the Coors Light Pole later in the afternoon. He went on to lead 28 laps and looked the part of a contender, but it wasn't to be.

"We had a great run going in the race," Newman said. "We led laps and then had a problem early with a flat tire, but we moved back up toward the front of the field. Unfortunately, we got caught up in an on-track accident and didn't get the finish we had hoped to get — we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully, we can change that this time around."

Kahne, who drives the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports, is set to make his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in the No. 96 H&H Motorsports modified at Loudon following his NSCS win Sunday at Infineon Raceway. The team will be headed by crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., son of Modified legend Tom Baldwin, and current Sprint Cup Series team owner.

Ted Christopher celebrates a victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway back in 2006. Christopher leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour back to Loudon Saturday for the New England 100 auto race. (Citizen file photo)

"Tommy called and asked if I wanted to race for them in the Troyer house car and I said 'Heck yeah!,'" Kahne said. "It's a great car, nice and fast, with good people working on it."

Like Newman, Kahne's participation in the New England 100 is not just a one-off deal. He plans to return to Loudon for the New Hampshire 100 in September, and intends to also compete in the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tour's combination race at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.

"I love to race, so any chance that I have to drive a different type of car is a cool opportunity," Kahne said. "The Modified race at New Hampshire is always competitive. Those guys run pretty hard and it is going to be fun to be a part of it."

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour first ran at New Hampshire on Sept. 2, 1990, but the invasion of national series drivers did not come until a decade and a half later. Todd Bodine, a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor, started the trend in 2005 when he entered the September race. Bodine, the younger brother of former Modified standouts Geoff and Brett Bodine, competed in the fall date again in 2006.

The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to participate were Stewart and Edwards during the June race in 2006. J.J. Yeley, then a full-time NSCS competitor, ran in the fall 2007 race.

Newman has had the most success to-date, when he became the first driver among the group to sit on the pole and lead a lap. Now with Modified experience under his belt, Newman looks to be a strong contender this week.

"Any racer will tell you that when they get the chance to race, they are going to, so I'm looking forward to getting back into the modified at New Hampshire this weekend," Newman said. "I have good equipment, and I have some more experience in the car, so I am excited about Saturday's race."

History at NHMS bodes better for Christopher, who with two wins and three top-five finishes in five starts this season holds a 40-point lead over Todd Szegedy in the Modified Tour standings. Christopher has five career Modified Tour wins at NHMS and is tied for the lead with seven poles. He also has five NASCAR Camping World Series East wins at Loudon, making him the winningest competitor in track history.

Christopher finished second and first in the two events at NHMS last year. He will also attempt to make the field for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this weekend — the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 — in a car owned by Kirk Shelmerdine.

Jimmy Blewett, Mike Stefanik and Ryan Preece round out the third through fifth spots in the Modified Tour Standings entering Saturday's race, which begins with driver introductions at 12:45 p.m. Qualifying for the New England 100 (105.8 miles) starts this afternoon at 4:45.