RIDING WITH … Dave Blaney

Sunday: The Hartford native turned in his third-best finish of the 2008 season Sunday at the Camping World 400 presented by AAA at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. His only previous bests were a pair of ninth-place finishes at Darlington, S.C., for the Dodge Challenger 500, and, ironically, here in June at the Best Buy 400. In both of those races, Blaney started relatively high in the field — 13th at Darlington and 18th in the June race at Dover. Sunday he had to work his way up from a 37th starting spot.

Season to date: Blaney remains in 31st place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, but he’s just three points behind No. 30 Reed Sorenson and only 47 behind No. 29 Michael Waltrip.

Next: NASCAR’s top series moves to suburban Kansas City for the Camping World 400 presented by Coleman. Television coverage begins Sunday at 1 p.m. with the green flag scheduled to drop shortly after 2. Qualifying is Friday at 4:10 p.m.

The Vindicator, nascarmedia.com