RIDING WITH … Dave Blaney

August 22, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

This week: NASCAR’s top series returns to the short track at Bristol (Tenn.) for the Sharpie 500 Saturday night. Coverage on ESPN begins at 7 p.m. with the green flag scheduled to drop shortly after 8.

Last week: The Hartford native had a day to forget at the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. He got caught up in a wreck on lap 83 and limped to a 41st-place finish, completing just 117 of 200 laps.

Season to date: Blaney, not surprisingly, took another fall in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series points standings, to 32nd place. He’s 12 points behind No. 31 Michael Waltrip and 24 behind No. 30 Reed Sorenson.

The Vindicator, NASCAR.com