JOLIET, Ill. -- Brad Keselowski saw one shot in front of him to steal the win in the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He had twice picked his way through the field Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, and found himself watching a spirited, side-by-side battle for the lead between Kevin Harvick and rookie Kyle Larson. As everyone else held their breath watching the Harvick and Larson duel, Keselowski saw his opening and pounced. He used a daring three-wide drive through the middle to grab the lead for good. "I just saw a hole and I went for it," he said. "I didnt know if my car would stick or not, but I knew Id regret it if I didnt try it." The win in the first race of the 10-race Chase automatically advances Keselowski, the top seed in the 16-driver field, into the second round. NASCAR this year has debuted an elimination format and four drivers will be knocked out after every third race. As Team Penske celebrated in Victory Lane, Keselowski moved his name on a bracket-type Chase grid into the next round. "I guess you couldnt ask for a better way to start the Chase," he said. "Today was about as much of a statement as you can make." Keselowski opened the 2012 Chase with a win at Chicago and went on to his first Sprint Cup title. He failed to make the Chase last year and was ineligible to defend his title, but has raced this entire year as if hes on a mission to win a second championship. Now he can race for fun the next two weeks as he awaits the Chase reset following the Sept. 28 race at Dover -- all because he went for broke on Sunday. "The first thing we wanted to do was get a win for one of our cars so were automatically in the next round," team owner Roger Penske said. "With Brad being able to split in between (Larson) and (Harvick), it was the winning move." The gamble with 15 laps remaining put Keselowski solidly out front, and he easily pulled away from the field while Harvick and Larson had their hands full trying to hold off Jeff Gordon. Then contact between Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. set up one final restart with six laps to go, but Keselowski again surged to the front for his second consecutive victory and Sprint Cup Series-leading fifth of the year. It was a huge turnaround from Fridays opening practice, when he and Penske teammate Joey Logano struggled to find speed. Keselowski started 25th, but worked his way up to second, only to give it all up following a questionable pit stop under yellow. The rear tire changer fretted he didnt get the wheel on tight enough, and crew chief Paul Wolfe had to make a split-second decision on if they should address the issue or see how it played out. Wolfe decided to give up track position and bring Keselowski back to the pits under yellow instead of gambling there wasnt a problem and it backfiring under green. "The real winner today is the young man that changes the rear tire, (he) put his hand up and said Hey, I screwed up. The wheel might be loose," Penske said. "Paul had the guts to say on the radio, Were not going to go out and run to find out. Were coming in now." It made for an exciting finish a week after Keselowski led all but 17 laps in a snoozer of a regular-season finale. It also put the rest of the Chase field on notice that Keselowski is a very strong title contender. Although 12 Chase drivers finished in the top 15, Sunday proved theyll all have their hands full with Keselowski, Gordon and Harvick. Gordon, trying for his fifth NASCAR championship, wound up second while Larson, the rookie who flirted with Chase contention, was third. Logano was fourth and Harvick faded to fifth after leading a race-high 79 laps. Chase-eligible drivers Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch took the next three spots, while Larson teammate Jamie McMurray was ninth. Matt Kenseth finished 10th as all three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers finished inside the top 10. The next three spots went to Hendrick Motorsports as Chase drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., six-time and defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne finished 11th through 13th. Ryan Newman battled back from three laps down to finish 15th, but the rest of the Chase field didnt fare as well. Carl Edwards wound up 20th after a tire problem, AJ Allmendinger (22nd) and Greg Biffle (23rd) werent competitive, and Aric Almirola finished 41st after an engine failure. It was a devastating blow for Almirola, an underdog in the Chase who ran as high as fourth in the race. He was sixth and headed for a routine pit stop when his engine suddenly failed. He was greeted with a hug from Hall of Famer Richard Petty, his car owner, in the garage. "Heartbroken, I think, is the easiest way to describe it," Almirola said. "We know we are capable of running in the top 10. Everyone else might not think so, the rest of the world thinks we are underdogs, and we will gladly accept that tag. We dont have anything to hang our heads about." The four drivers at the bottom of the standings and currently in danger of being eliminated are Newman, Allmendinger, Biffle and Almirola. Los Angeles Dodgers Gear . -- Manager Bob Melvin shuffled the Athletics batting order and got the type of production he was looking for from the top of the lineup. Austin Barnes Jersey . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/. Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. Maury Wills Jersey . Abduraimova had not won a tour-level match since 2009 but was a wild-card entry in Tashkent and broke her opponent twice in each set to reach the second round. Second-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania advanced easily by beating Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1, while No. Shawn Green Jersey . PAUL, Minn.ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills signed first-round pick Sammy Watkins to his rookie contract Wednesday. The Bills announced the signing shortly after the teams first session of organized team activities. "Its great just to put all that behind me, just to know you have financial stability," Watkins said. "Now its just all football. Every day I have to come in and worry about football and my plays and my job and just work out there." Buffalo is counting on Watkins to immediately step into the starting lineup for a team that has not been to the playoffs since 1999, the NFLs longest current drought. The Bills moved up five spots in the draft in a trade with the Cleveland Browns to select Watkins fourth overall. The 6-foot-1, 211-pound wideout is known for his playmaking abilities and has tremendous speed and hands. Wednesday was Watkins first official practice with quarterback EJ Manuel and the rest of the offence. He lined up with the starting unit at receiver alongside fellow off-season acquisition Mike Williaams.dddddddddddd Watkins and Manuel had a slow start to the session. An early pass intended for Watkins was off the mark and intercepted by cornerback Corey Graham. But the duo responded accordingly. The two later hooked up for receptions over the middle and down the left sideline. "Its coming along," Watkins said. "Weve got a lot to work on, a lot of different routes and schemes weve got to clean up a little bit. But its a process." Watkins will miss Buffalos remaining two sessions this week as he heads to Los Angeles to participate in the 2014 NFLPA Rookie Premiere. He made it clear he would prefer to be on the football field adjusting to life with the Bills. "I would rather stay here and get the connection with the quarterback. I dont want to fall behind," Watkins said. "Its kind of sad that I have to leave for three to four days and everybody has that two to three days ahead of me. So I really have to study the plays and get out there running and training, not get behind too far." ' ' '