JOLIET, Ill. -- ??? Jimmie Johnson had a strong car. He was in position for a fast start to the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.Then he committed another costly mistake.Johnson led Sundays playoff opener four times for a race-high 118 laps and was running second before he was handed a pass-through penalty for speeding on his way off pit road. The infraction on Lap 234 of 270 sent Johnson tumbling down the leaderboard, leading to a 12th-place finish.Johnsons car also failed a post-race inspection, likely costing him some valuable points for the Chase standings.Johnson, who turned 41 on Saturday, is going for his seventh series title, which would tie the record for NASCARs top circuit held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. He was encouraged by the speed of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during the 400-mile race at Chicagoland Speedway, but the miscue on pit road left him shaking his head.This week we had it. This week we had it for sure, Johnson said. Just the mistake there at the end on that last segment on pit road.Johnson was coming off a rough night at Richmond, when he had a tire go down, hit the wall and finished 11th. He has just two wins this year for his smallest total since he also won twice during the 2011 season.But Johnson, who has never won at Chicagoland and hasnt made it out of the second round in the two years of the Chases elimination format, had the fastest car in Fridays practice at the 1.5-mile asphalt oval. He started eighth after qualifying was rained out and passed Brad Keselowski to grab the lead for the first time on Lap 53.Johnson controlled most of the middle of the race before Chase Elliott took over the top spot. But Johnson appeared to be in good shape before the penalty on pit road, drawing a no way! from the driver on his radio when he was told of the punishment.I mean I was completely shocked that I was fast, because Im way under, just being cautious, he said after the race. Still got dinged leaving that last segment. I mean I couldnt believe it. Just mind-boggling.Johnson was eighth in the playoff standings after Chicagoland, pending NASCARs announcement of the exact penalty for failing the inspection. The field for the 10-race Chase is cut from 16 to 12 in two weeks.Its not as bad as I expected, Johnson said when asked about the Chase standings. But just got to stop screwing up.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Air Max 98 Tour Yellow 2018 . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Air Max 98 Tour Yellow . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. http://www.airmax98.it/air-max-98-supreme-shop/air-max-98-rosse.html . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court. Air Max 98 Nere . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Air Max 98 Bianche .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- When Patrick Chambers looks down at his lineup sheet, he sees more potential and more options than in his five previous seasons at Penn State.Hes spent the last few weeks trying to figure out where they fit and acknowledges that may take a while. But thats a good thing considering they come from the programs two best recruiting classes and a group of solid veterans fresh off their best Big Ten season under Chambers. But that was still just 7-11 and Chambers knows itll take more than a one-man, sometimes two-man offensive show to do any better.By mixing up his lineups early in the season, Chambers hopes to take some of the pressure off of leading returning scorer Shep Garner. Distributing minutes will also be a focus as Chambers is implementing a new gameplan based on speed and maximizing possessions. Penn State was last in the Big Ten with 65.8 points per game last season.We want to score 80 (per game), Chambers said. Were going to press a little bit more. Were going to push it, make or miss, as often as we can. We need 8 to 10 more steals. Weve got to reduce fouls. So everybody understands and has a clear goal of who were going to be, what our identity is.A lot of that identity will be drawn from Garner.The soft-spoken junior is the teams leading returning scorer (14.8) and spent time organizing pickup games with his teammates, trying to be more vocal in the wake of do-it-all forward Brandon Taylors departure. Garner is looking forward to playing in a system where the focus will be on opening him up for more shots. He led Penn State with 75 3-pointers on 205 attempts.I think playing faster, it gets us used to taking what they give us, Garner said. It isnt going to be a bunch of pass the ball around. The quicker we can get down the basketball court and score, the better.OPTIONS FOR SHEP: Freshman Tony Carr is expected to help out at point guard as are Terrence Samuel and JJosh Reaves.dddddddddddd Its part of Chambers plan to free Garner up to play without the ball and set up his own shot. Chambers believes Garner can use his athleticism to get open the old fashioned way rather than relying on dribble hand-offs and screens to do so.Samuel is an intriguing option. He won a national championship as a freshman at UConn before transferring to Penn State and sitting out last season per NCAA rules.Terrence can bring a toughness that we sorely need. Hes been there. Hes done it, Chambers said.A look at some other storylines heading into the season:PHILLY GUYS: Garner is a Roman Catholic High School graduate and will be joined by three others this season. Carr was the top-rated recruit in the state and will play this season along with two more from the Philadelphia school. Penn States first Top 30 recruiting class also includes guard Nazeer Bostick and forward Lamar Stevens and Joe Hampton, the No. 3 overall recruit from Virginia.MORE FROM MOORE: Penn State will need a big improvement on the glass from its biggest player. Forward Julian Moore was fifth on the team with 102 rebounds last season but will have more chances with Taylor and Jordan Dickerson gone. Chambers said previously the 6-foot-10 junior was caught up with trying to score and has renewed his focus on defense.REAVES BIGGER: After a freshman season that started with back-to-back steals turned into dunks, finished with bumps and bruises with a long battle against mononucleosis sandwiched in between, Reaves experienced plenty of growing pains last year. Named the teams preseason MVP, Reaves spent the offseason growing. He added 20 pounds to better handle the rigors of Big Ten play. His absence was felt when he missed six games with mono. The team went 1-5 without the stingy defender. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Stitched Jerseys ' ' '