JOLIET, Ill. -- Martin Truex Jr. went from a completely unraveled tire that left him a lap down to the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup championship lead 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 re-start 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 near miss at the Daytona 500 and a Coca-Cola 600 win, while Sherry Pollex has 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, Cole Pearn, Truexs crew chief, said. 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 McMcMuray was 11th, Kurt Busch 13th, Austin Dillon 14th, Carl Edwards 15th and Tony Stewart 16th.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 the race sponsor, the winning trophy was a gold base with the four Teenage Mutant Ninga 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 Swingman Nuggets Jerseys . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Cheap Nuggets Jerseys Authentic . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. http://www.cheapnuggetsjerseys.com/ . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Cheap Denver Nuggets Jerseys . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. NEW YORK -- Caroline Wozniacki isnt just back playing tennis. Something important about her seems changed. And a lot of it was evident during her 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Latvias Anastasija Sevastova on Tuesday in a quarterfinal match that ended Sevastovas giant-killing run through the US Open.Wozniacki began by blitzing to wins in the first 10 games of a match that passed the 50-minute mark before Sevastova, who was fighting an ankle injury that required two visits from the trainer, won a solitary game.Even if I had no injury, it wouldve been tough to beat her. Caroline played great, Sevastova said.Referring to Wozniackis mere five unforced errors compared to the 30 she made, the 48th-ranked Sevastova added, I think she made no mistakes.Wozniacki moves into Thursdays semifinal round opposite Angelique Kerber, who could overtake Serena Williams for No. 1 in the world if she wins this tournament. Kerber will find that Wozniacki, whose ranking has plunged to No. 74 in part because of an ankle injury that forced her to miss three months this year (including the French Open), will not be an easy out. She looks nothing like the player who bombed out early at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.Wozniackis game and attitude have more of a serrated edge now, and she says age and suffering some hard knocks have a lot to do with it. She used to be the best counterpuncher on tour, bar none. But against Sevastova -- and eight-seeded Madison Keys and Svetlana Kuznetsova in this tournament before that -- Wozniacki was the aggressor. She now comes forward more, cracking hard shots off both her forehand and backhand. She kept Sevastova pinned deep behind the baseline, often finishing her off with smashes, same as shed done against Keys in the previous round.Seeing it on TV is one thing, but I was feeling how deep shes hitting the ball and feeling like I cant get on the offense right away, Keys said after their match. Its totally different watching and playing.A lot of this feels different than when Wozniacki was the top-ranked player in the world for 67 weeks in 2010 and 2011. She didnt play this assertively or talk with the hint of swagger that occasionally slips out now. She constantly had her bona fides questioned then -- and even now, at age 26 -- because she still hasnt won a Grand Slam title. She made the final here in 2009 but lost to Kim Clijsters and was beaten by Wiilliams in the title match two years ago.ddddddddddddUntil now, Wozniacki hadnt been back to a Slam semifinal since.Wozniacki will now admit her desire to hang onto the No. 1 ranking and the constant references to the lack of a Slam title wore on her, even if she tried to never let it show. She never got sharp or refused to answer the same question over and over, but she had a lot more of Clijsters in her than Williams, now a close friend but one of the most rapacious winners on tour.At times, Wozniacki seemed like shed succeeded Clijsters for the title of nicest player on tour -- which is a great thing to be as a human being but often has no application to dominating tournaments.So imagine the little ripple of surprise Wozniacki caused the other day after shed upset Keys -- playing some tennis that was almost as immaculate as her win over Sevastova -- and actually bragged a little, saying, I think it sucks for some of the other players to have to play me early in tournaments.On Tuesday, Wozniacki admitted she saw Sevastova slip and fall during their match. But she told herself to have no sympathy.I think I was just a little extra focused, Wozniacki said. I knew if she can still walk and still put weight on it and stuff, then shes obviously going to go more for her shots. ... I kept serving well and made her run.Sevastova looked nothing like the player who had knocked off French Open champ Garbine Muguruza earlier in the tournament. And Wozniacki looked nothing like the ball returner whose own father and coach, Piotr, has said used to be happy just to make a semifinal.The dream needs to be to win, Piotr told USA Today on Sunday.Consider it done, his daughter says.I think when youre a little kid and you dont know what anything really means, everybody knows what it means to be the best in the world, and everybody knows what it means to be No. 1, Wozniacki said Tuesday. That is something Im extremely proud of. ... I mean, how crazy is it to say that youre the best in the world at something? Doesnt matter if its tennis, football, being a lawyer.So bring on Kerber. Then the Williams-Simona Halep winner after that.I still believe and feel like Im one of the top players, and grinding my way back, Wozniacki said. Hopefully, I have two more matches here. ' ' '