JOLIET, Ill. -- Martin Truex Jr.s?tire became completely unraveled, and that left him a lap down, but he took the lead at the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time in his career.He can thank a late caution in what has been an emotional year for the small-team driver.Truex shot to the front after a late restart and pulled away to give Furniture Row Racing a NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff-opening victory Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.Ive had a lot of practice at it, Truex said about the on-track obstacles. I think my approach really changed two years ago, when (girlfriend) Sherry got diagnosed with cancer. My approach to all those things changed and made me a better driver.NASCAR announced after the race that Truexs No. 78 Toyota failed the laser inspection, but the infraction was not at the level of negating the victory for Chase qualification purposes. Truex is expected to receive a point penalty this week.Rookie Chase Elliott appeared on his way to an easy win until Michael McDowell blew a tire and spun out to bring a caution with five laps left.Elliott and Truex came in to pit for tires, with some non-Chase drivers Ryan Blaney and Kasey Kahne and Chase contender Carl Edwards staying on the track.Truex restarted fourth and Elliott fifth, and Truex quickly got to the front and held off Joey Logano on the final lap for his third victory of the season. Truex is guaranteed to move on when the Chase field is cut from 16 to 12 in two weeks.Truex, whose team gets technical support from Joe Gibbs Racing, made the last four in the 2015 Chase. His 2016 season started with a near-miss at the Daytona 500 and a Coca-Cola 600 win, while Sherry Pollex battled ovarian cancer. Shes now in remission.You have to understand, this isnt the end of the world, Truex said of racing setbacks. We can overcome it. Thats what we did today.Elliott, a rookie, finished third, followed by Blaney and Chase driver Brad Keselowski, who sits second in points.Its not yours until its over, the 20-year-old Elliott said. Thats part of life, man. Youre not dumb. Weve all watched this stuff long enough to know these races dont go green that long.Truex led early in the race only to have his tire come completely unraveled. It led to an unscheduled stop that left him a lap down in the 400-mile race.The hard compound came off it, said Cole Pearn, Truexs crew chief. I guess [Goodyear] saw a couple other tires and came down and told us a certain sequence number had an issue.Truex had no other tire issues on the 1.5-mile oval and outraced Kevin Harvick, who also got into early trouble, to be in position for the free pass to the lead lap on the next caution.Jimmie Johnson dominated the middle of the race, leading 118 laps, until Elliott got by him on lap 176 of 267.Johnson was running second when he was caught speeding on pit road during the last green-flag stop, yelling no way! on his radio when told he had to serve a pass-through penalty. Johnson finished 12th, but his car also failed laser inspection and he could plummet in the points standings.Elliott led for 75 laps in what was a clean race with only three cautions until McDowells late wreck changed the dynamic of the race.I feel for Chase. I know what hes going through, Truex said. I wasnt going to catch him.WHOS HOT: Chase drivers Truex, Logano, Elliott, Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth all finished in the top 10. Jamie McMurray was 11th, Kurt Busch 13th and Tony Stewart 14th.WHOS NOT: Kyle Larson, who had the fastest car in Saturdays practice, had to change a transmission and start from the back. He finished 18th. ... Harvick ended up 20th amid multiple issues. ... Rookie Chris Buescher fell a lap down 41 laps in and two laps down before the 100th lap. He finished 28th.PENALTIES: Based on new rules announced last week, Johnson could receive a 10-point penalty, which would drop him into a tie for 12th in the Chase standings. Truex could be docked 15 points, but the win locks him into the second round.DILLON SUBS: Ty Dillon finished 27th filling in for Regan Smith in the No. 7 Chevrolet. Smith left the track Friday and returned to North Carolina after his wife went into labor.COWABUNGA: With Nickelodeon as the race sponsor, the winning trophy was a gold base with the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on top in various poses. Truex plans to put it in his shop so visiting kids can get a picture with it.UP NEXT: Two races remain before the Chase field is cut to 12. Next Sunday is a 300-mile race at New Hampshire, where Kenseth won in July. Cheap Nike Air Max 1 Animal . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Cheap Nike Air Max 1 Anniversary Royal Blue . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.airmax1cheap.com/cheap-nike-air-max-1-desert/ . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Cheap Nike Air Max 1 Essential Red . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Cheap Nike Air Max 1 Dames .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. TAMPA, Fla. -- Patrick Marleau scored, then waited nearly 10 minutes for his goal to end up on the board.It finally got there, and the San Jose Sharks kept rolling on this impressive road trip.Marleau had a goal that required two video reviews, Martin Jones made 25 saves and the Sharks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Saturday night.Tommy Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic also scored for the Sharks, who are 3-0 midway through a six-game road trip. San Jose is 11-3-1, including 6-1-1 on the road, against Tampa Bay since 2006.I think our road game is coming around, Sharks center Tomas Hertl said.The Western Conference champion Sharks had lost four of six away from home before the current streak.Tampa Bay got a goal from Anton Stralman.Marleau put a backhander on net at 7:18 of the first and then crashed into the goal along with Tampa Bays Andrej Sustr and Brayden Point.The original call was incidental contact between Marleau and goalie Ben Bishop, and thus no goal.The NHL situation room initiated a review to examine whether the puck crossed the goal line before the net was displaced. It was confirmed the puck went in before the net came off, but the no-goal call stood due to the incidental contact.San Jose then challenged to review interference on Bishop. After seeing another video and consulting with the referee, the NHL hockey operations staff determined that Point made contact with Bishop, resulting in the puck crossing the goal line, and the no-goal call was overturned.You have to live with that, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.dddddddddddd.Jones was stellar, making pad saves on back-to-back shots by Brian Boyle in the first and stopping Point during a second-period breakaway.Jones again was unbelievable, San Jose center Chris Tierney said.Wingels scored about three minutes after Marleau, and Vlasics power-play goal midway through the second made it 3-0.Bishop made a left pad save on Joonas Donskois penalty shot 4:05 into the game.The Lightning pulled Bishop for the final three minutes but failed to get a shot on goal.You cant do that, Cooper said. That last 3 1/2 minutes can pretty much sum up what happened the first 57.Stralman got his first goal in 30 games at 5:43 of the third. The defenseman, who has been kept out of practice the past few days for undisclosed reasons, was shaken up late in the third and left the game.Cooper said Stralman does not have a head injury.Game notes Bishop had 17 saves. ... Marleau tied Brian Bellows for 48th place on the career list with his 485th goal. ... Tampa Bay LW Jonathan Drouin (hit to the head) took part in the morning skate. ... Sharks C Joe Thornton played in his 1,382nd NHL game, tying tie Trevor Linden for 41st place on the career list. ... Hertl had an assist on his 23rd birthday.UP NEXTSharks: Play at Carolina on Tuesday night.Lightning: Begin a five-game road trip Monday night at the New York Islanders. Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Store Wholesale Jerseys China Jerseys NFL China ' ' '