导出博客文章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.
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conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown
the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president
Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be
back in 2014. LAS VEGAS -- Terence Crawford, already a two-division world
titleholder and the 2014 fighter of the year, has been hailed by many as
Americas next big boxing star.He went a long way toward living up to those lofty
accolades after taking apart Viktor Postol in a masterful performance. Crawford
won by unanimous decision and unified two junior welterweight world titles
before 7,027 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.Crawford and
Postol, both undefeated titleholders in their primes, were universally regarded
as the two best 140-pounders in the world coming into the fight. With the
victory, Crawford staked his indisputable claim to division supremacy and set
himself up for much bigger business, possibly against Manny Pacquiao.Crawford,
who scored two knockdowns in the fifth round, won going away on all three
scorecards: 118-107, 118-107 and 117-108. ESPN.com also scored the fight 118-107
for Crawford, who figures to rise on the mythical pound-for-pound list with this
performance.I just stick to what I know, boxing, Crawford said. Everybody kept
saying I was running from him, but that wasnt true. I asked for the fight.I feel
like I get better every fight. Viktor Postol is a great champion and he was
dodged for a reason, but I aint the type to duck and dodge anyone.The victory
was huge for Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs). Going into the bout, Top Rank promoter Bob
Arum said the winner would be one of two leading candidates, along with
welterweight titleholder Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs), to land a pay-per-view
main event against Pacquiao, who is coming out of a brief retirement, on Nov. 5
at the Thomas & Mack Center.Postol had no answers for Crawford on Saturday.I
thought it was a good fight between two technicians, but he was quicker than me,
Postol said through a translator. He is one of the best fighters in the world. I
just didnt have the answers for him.Freddie Roach, Postols trainer, said: He was
just too fast for us. I was surprised how fast and how good he was. Im very
impressed with his talent.Crawford took time to gloat over the win, praising his
trainer, Brian McIntyre.Freddie Roach and Postol said that Freddie would
outcoach my coach, but you tell em who got outcoached tonight, Crawford
said.?Added McIntyre: The game plan was to keep Postols legs moving, and that
took away his jab and right hand. And they told me I wasnt on Freddie Roachs
level. ... I had the better fighter.The fight began slowly as both men looked to
get a sense of each other. But Postol, who is 5-foot-11 and held a 3-inch height
advantage, appeared to tower over Crawford, who struggled to find his range
early. Crawford, 28, of Omaha, Nebraska, fired plenty of jabs, but virtually all
of them missed because he could not get inside the longer Postol.After three
technical rounds, the action heated up in the fourth, when Crawford seemed to
hurt Postol, 32, of Ukraine, with a hard left hand to the head, bringing to life
the pro-Crawford crowd, which began to chant, Omaha! Omaha!Crawford, who
retained his title for the third time, appeared to have figured out Postol by
the fifth round.dddddddddddd He landed a left hand that forced Postol (28-1, 12
KOs) to touch the mat with his right knee for a knockdown. Later in the round,
Crawford landed a powerful left hand that sent him into the ropes and forced him
to touch his gloves to the mat to keep his balance; referee Tony Weeks called
another knockdown.After the round, McIntyre told Crawford, He aint got no legs
no more, he aint got no legs after that knockdown.The fifth round was the
turning point of the fight. Before that round, all three judges had the fight
38-38. Then Crawford won all but one round on one card the rest of the fight.I
caught my rhythm and I knew everything I would do from there on (after the fifth
round), Crawford said. Hes the type of fighter that has to be set to punch, so I
kept his feet moving, kept him off balance. Every time I connect with a solid
shot, I was hurting him.Crawford, who switched from right-handed to southpaw
early in the fight, rocked Postol with a left hand in the sixth round -- another
clear round Crawford won.I went southpaw and took his jab away, Crawford said. I
jabbed over his jab. My right hand caught his jab.Crawford continued to dominate
at the start of the eighth round, when he landed a clean right hand to drive
Postol back. Later in the round, he knocked Postol off balance with a hard jab
and then landed another flurry of shots, including a left hand, that nearly
dropped him.Crawford nearly dropped Postol again in the ninth round with a left
hand.?A frustrated Postol, who made $675,000, resorted to rabbit punching in the
11th round. He nailed Crawford with a right hand behind the head, for which
Postol was penalized one point, merely adding to Crawfords overwhelming
advantage.As Crawford, who earned $1.3 million, toyed with Postol in the 12th
round, he taunted him, stuck his tongue out and also lashed him with hard
punches, eliciting roars from the crowd as the fight ended. HBO will replay the
pay-per-view fight next Saturday at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.Crawford was going for a
knockout in the final round as he strafed Postol, who knocked out Lucas
Matthysse in the 10th round to win a vacant title in a big upset in October and
was making his first defense.He told me come on, so I said, Lets go and he
retreated, Crawford said.After the fight, talk quickly turned to the possible
showdown with Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs), the Filipino great and boxings only
eight-division titleholder.If Bob Arum wants that fight and my coaches want that
fight, thats something well talk about later, Crawford said. I let my coaches
handle that. I am a fighter and I will fight anybody. Im happy and Im about to
go on vacation. We not worried about Manny Pacquiao right now.But Crawford made
one thing clear -- if the fight happens, he will insist that Pacquiao, who has
been fighting as a welterweight for years, come down in weight to challenge him
for his title belts at junior welterweight.It will be at 140, Crawford said. ' '
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