JOLIET, Ill. -- Chase Elliott is proving to be a quick study. A few questions for his teammates and a couple practice laps, and he was ready to roll in his first race at Chicagoland Speedway. Elliott held off Trevor Bayne to earn his third Nationwide Series win of the season Saturday night, putting the rookie on top of the standings. "We had an awesome race going," Elliott said. "I try to make the most of my practice laps. They gave me a good car. That gives me time to learn the track in practice." Elliott had a strong car all day long for JR Motorsports, qualifying third and leading a race-high 85 laps. Bayne tried to chase him down on fresh tires in the final laps, but ran out of time. "The gap was closing," Bayne said. "Probably 10 more laps, but well never know." Elliott, the son of former NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, also won in his first trips to Texas and Darlington this year. He leads the standings by seven points over Regan Smith. Chase Elliott said Smith and Kasey Kahne provided some importance advice about the track. "I did have some questions that I asked, and I definitely think that helped tonight," he said. "So thankful to have a couple great teammates and good to have something to lean back on with those guys." Kyle Larson was third, followed by Kahne and Ty Dillon to round out the top five. Brian Scott, who started on the pole, finished sixth and earned $100,000 in the second event of the four-race "Dash 4 Cash" bonus program. Kahne and Larson were the lone Sprint Cup regulars in the field on an off weekend for NASCARs top series. Everyone comes back to Chicagoland in September on the same weekend that the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins at the 1.52-mile oval. The night began with a pair of Richard Childress Racing teammates in front after Scott and Dillon had the best showing in qualifying. It was Scotts second pole of the season and No. 4 for his career. He won his first Nationwide Series pole at Chicagoland on Sept. 17, 2011. Scott led for 20 laps before Elliott moved in front. Erik Jones finished seventh in his Nationwide debut, driving Joe Gibbs Racings No. 20 Toyota. The 18-year-old Jones won the Truck Series race last week at Iowa in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota he shares with Busch. Jones also won a Truck race last year in Phoenix. Jones is expected to make two more Nationwide starts in Matt Kenseths car this season. "It was definitely a learning experience for me and everybody involved," he said. "I feel like I learned a lot the whole night and really picked up on some things that will help me through the next couple." Jones got some advice from Busch in preparation for his first run in the series. "A lot of what we talked about was working through traffic and it definitely helped out," Jones said. "It was something I was able to apply right away tonight and use to my advantage." Smith, who led the series standings by eight points over Elliott Sadler coming into the day, started 15th after a disappointing qualifying session, and it just got worse during the race. He never got into the mix on his way to 16th place. It was similar to last year, when Smith was on top of the series heading into the first stop at Chicagoland, and then slid into the infield on Lap 129 and finished 13th. He had the same finish in the September race at the same track. Chicago White Sox Shirts . Next up is another showdown with Michigan. Payne scored 18 points, Branden Dawson had 14 and No. 22 Michigan State beat No. 12 Wisconsin 83-75 on Saturday to reach the Big Ten tournament championship. Wholesale White Sox Jerseys . -- Chris Tillman paid no attention to the Baltimore bullpen as it started to stir in the ninth inning. https://www.cheapwhitesox.com/. Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. White Sox Jerseys China . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. But in the case of Hurtado, its what the coach is NOT saying that may be the secret to a superb run of form. Chicago White Sox Pro Shop .The Toronto Raptors guard, who will represent the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game in New Orleans on Sunday, says he doesnt complain in the face of adversity "because I know this little girl is just happy for anything.MIAMI -- The defensive effort was closer to Miami Heat standards. LeBron James made it difficult to notice anything but offence. James scored 33 points on 13 for 21 shooting -- with an array of post-up moves getting him going early, then a barrage of 3-pointers fueling a big third-quarter push -- and the Heat encountered little trouble on the way to a 118-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. James scored 17 points in the third quarter, his best 12-minute stretch of the season so far and an indicator that a balky back that slowed him in the seasons first couple weeks is improving. "Its getting better," James said. "It feels a lot better. Still a little sore ... getting a lot of work put on it so I can get to 100 per cent. But its getting better every day and thats a good thing." Michael Beasley scored 19 points and Mario Chalmers finished with 15 points and seven assists for the Heat, whose biggest victory margin before Tuesday was a 12-point triumph over Chicago on opening night. Chris Bosh scored 10 for Miami (5-3). Miami played without Udonis Haslem (back) and Ray Allen (ill). Shane Battier started in Haslems place. "It wasnt perfect," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team was coming off a final-second loss to Boston on Saturday. "There were still some areas we definitely need to improve on, in terms of the details and discipline. But at least the effort, the effort, the activity was better, the disposition right from the beginning and it carried through once we got into the rotation. Guys were much more focused and bringing that competitive spirit." John Henson and Gary Neal each scored 18 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 for Milwaukee -- all three of them putting up those points off the Bucks bench. Caron Butler was the only double-digit-scoring starter for the Bucks (2-4), finishing with 10. "They shot almost 60 per cent today so theres no way we can win a game like that," Henson said. "We just have to get better." The Heat have scored at least 100 points in each of their eight games so far, extending the teams franchise-record for such a start, but what carried much more significance in the collective eyes of the two-time defending NBA champions were the defensive numbers. Milwaukee shot only 35 per ccent in the first three quarters, before scoring 33 points against an array of what largely was Heat second- and third-teamers in the final 12 minutes.dddddddddddd "Its been a long 48 hours in this building, but at least we were able to respond with a better game," Spoelstra said. "And I think our guys felt better looking each other in the eye in the locker room tonight." James gave the Heat a shot of adrenalin late in the half, when he and Chalmers teamed up for yet another entry on Miamis alley-oop highlight reel. Dwyane Wade grabbed a deflected ball and got it to Chalmers, who drove down the lane against Milwaukees Khris Middleton -- then simply lofted the ball straight up, knowing James was trailing the play. The result was predictable. James soared past Middleton for the dunk, the Heat took a 56-45 lead into the half, and the leagues four-time MVP then took over in the third quarter. "Best player in the world," the Bucks O.J. Mayo said. James 17, Bucks 17 -- that was the score in the third quarter, after the Heat star made 6 of 9 shots in the period, including four 3-pointers. He also drove for one particularly emphatic slam, and the 84-62 lead that Miami carried into the fourth ensured he would get the rest of the night off after logging only 30 minutes. "There were moments were I was very disappointed particularly when people were driving to the basket and were moving out of their way," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. "I will not tolerate that. That will not be accepted, I dont care who it is. If theyre going to the basket, weve got to challenge, weve got to foul then and make them earn it from the free-throw line. We cant be moving out of peoples way." NOTES: Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather was courtside, and the Brazilian national soccer team was also in attendance. ... Beasleys fourth point was the 5,000th of his NBA career. ... Drew, on how his team is going to be short-handed without Ersan Ilyasova, Luke Ridnour and Larry Sanders: "There will be some guys who will probably play out of position, but this is what being short-handed is all about." Ersan Ilyasova, Luke Ridnour and Larry Sanders: "There will be some guys who will probably play out of position, but this is what being short-handed is all about." ' ' '