JOLIET, Ill. -- Martin Truex Jr. was a lap down after he had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a completely unraveled tire.Truex could have cursed his bad luck. He could have lost his cool. Instead, he took a different approach.The mindset was, all right, this isnt good, this is bad, he said. I really wish this didnt happen, but it did. How are we going to overcome it?One furious closing charge was enough.Truex surged to the front on 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 (Pollex) 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, prompting a caution with five laps left.Elliott and Truex came in to pit for tires, with Ryan Blaney, 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.Pollex is now in remission after battling ovarian cancer.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.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.Here are a few more things to watch as the Chase moves to New Hampshire:PENALTIES MATTER: NASCAR will announce the penalties for Johnson and Truex this week.Based on recently released guidelines, Johnson could be docked 10 points. That would drop him into a tie for 12th.Truexs car also failed the laser inspection, but a points penalty wont matter. The victory guaranteed him a spot in the second round and NASCAR said the infraction was not severe enough to negate the win.FRESH TIRES RULE: When the final caution came out, the big question was whether or not to pit. Truex came in, then beat Elliott off pit road to set up the win.That was the right idea, the right call, because everybody took tires except three guys and they were sitting ducks, Truex said.CHEVY LIVES: Elliott nearly won and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson dominated the middle of the race. That after Hendrick and Chevrolet had a subpar regular season.Truex wasnt surprised.They lay in the weeds, sandbag. `Man, the Chevys are struggling. Toyotas are too fast. Got to take something from them, Truex said, smirking. Here they come. Thats just how they play the game.THEY CAN PLAY NICE: There was no second round in the Tony Stewart-Ryan Newman feud. After Stewart wrecked Newman last week at Richmond, Newman ripped Stewart, leading to a Friday meeting with NASCAR executives.Stewart had a quiet day, finishing 16th, while Newman was 19th.Truex, though, was upset at Kevin Harvick for bumping him as they were competing to get back on the lead lap.Typically, its real easy not to run into somebodys left rear on the straightaway, Truex said. As far as I can tell, he did it on purpose. Nikita Kucherov Lightning Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. Ryan McDonagh Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Martin-St-Louis-Jersey/ . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Mikhail Sergachev Lightning Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Yanni Gourde Jersey . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford.BOSTON - Letting Doc Rivers go to the Los Angeles Clippers was the first sign. Getting rid of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett clinched it. The Boston Celtics are rebuilding. The Celtics have agreed to the terms of a deal that would send the two remaining members of the Big Three that won the 2008 NBA title to the Brooklyn Nets for a package of draft picks and players. Garnett is a future Hall of Famer, but its Pierces departure that signals the end of an era for the leagues most-decorated franchise. Garnett and Pierce will go to Brooklyn as soon as the deal can be finalized on July 10. Yahoo Sports, which first reported the talks, said the Nets would also get veteran Jason Terry from Boston and send Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, the expiring deal of Kris Humphries and first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 to the Celtics. Boston is left with Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green and Avery Bradley, along with Jared Sullinger and first-round draft pick Kelly Olynyk, a 7-footer from Gonzaga. "Its sad to see everybody leave Boston. You just want them to go someplace where they have a chance to win, and they have," Rivers said at Clippers draft headquarters late Thursday night. "Its a great trade for Boston, too; not now, later. Danny wanted to rebuild, and thats what hes doing." The longest-tenured member of the Celtics, Pierce is the teams captain, a 10-time All-Star and a likely Hall of Famer. He is the second-leading scorer in the history of the NBAs most-decorated franchise, and also is in the teams top seven in rebounds, assists, steals, games and minutes played. Garnett is also a future Hall of Famer, though only the last six years of his career were in Boston. Its Pierce, who slipped to 10th in the 1998 draft and has been a Celtic ever since, who had a chance to spend his entire career with the franchise and add his name to a list that includes Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Bill Russell and John Havlicek. (But not Bob Cousy, Robert Parish or even Red Auerbach.) "(Its) sort of sad. You hate to see it," said Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who was an assistant on the Celtics 2008 championship team. &"But thats the NBA.dddddddddddd Its constant change, and you have to be ready to adapt. I think what Paul Pierce did for that franchise and Kevin — I thinks its good for them. They have an opportunity to continue on. "Good for the Celtics, where they can start their rebuilding." Pierce was drafted in the Rick Pitino era when the Celtics, already in the midst of the longest championship drought in franchise history, were a year removed from the second-worst record in the NBA (a mark that was not good enough to land them the top prize in the draft, Tim Duncan). He helped the team reach the Eastern Conference finals in 2002. But, convinced that they were not likely to go farther, Ainge was brought in the next year to tear things apart again. Boston plummeted back into the NBA lottery and again bad luck prevented them from landing a franchise player like Kevin Durant. Instead, Ainge swung deals for Garnett and Allen that earned the Celtics their NBA-record 17th championship in the very first year. But Garnett was injured the next year, and Kendrick Perkins went down in Game 6 of the finals in 2010, when the Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Then came two eliminations by Miami and, after five straight division titles, a third-place finish and first-round loss to the New York Knicks. Ainge was convinced that the time had come to start over. Rivers exit was negotiated with the Clippers, landing Boston a first-round draft choice in 2015 and freeing the Celtics from the $21 million remaining on his contract. Tim Hardaway, a scout for the Miami Heat, said: "We dont have to worry about Boston no more." Not next year, at least. But the Celtics will have two first-round picks in four of the next five drafts, including the loaded one expected for next year. "The Celtics wanted draft picks and they wanted to drop contracts. I was one of those contracts," Rivers said from California on Friday in an interview with CBS radio in Boston. "Its a hard thing to do, but I think its the right thing to do." ___ Follow Jimmy Golen on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jgolen ' ' '