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 isn’t good, this is bad,” he said. “I really wish this didn’t 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.

“I’ve 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 Truex’s 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.

“You have to understand, this isn’t the end of the world.” Truex said of racing setbacks. “We can overcome it. That’s what we did today.”

Elliott, a rookie, finished third, followed by Blaney and Chase driver Brad Keselowski, who sits second in points.