This win by Joey Logano flips the script and reduces the pressure for Team Penske

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Joey Logano quickly flipped the script for Team Penske.

The focus after this win can be on, well, the first win this season for NASCAR's reigning Cup Series champion. Not like last week following Austin Cindric's victory at Talladega, when Logano had an expletive-laden rant on the radio directed at his teammate during that race and then afterward had what would have been a fifth-place finish disqualified because of a missing nut and loose bolt on the spoiler during the postrace inspection.

“It's nice to change the storyline,” Logano said.

Logano recovered from starting 27th at the 1 1/2-mile Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday in the 11th Cup race of the season, and surged ahead after the restart in overtime with teammate Ryan Blaney to his outside.

“We paid the price from last week in qualifying, going out early, and now you have a bad pit stall. OK, I just got to (get a) top 10, top five and start clicking those off, getting some points, I need that," Logano said. “Then just found ourselves in position to win. Glad we capitalized on that. The goal was to get some momentum rolling. I feel like just get some stuff going, juices flowing again. Yeah, turned out well.”

All three Penske drivers led laps at Texas. Cindric was in front for 60 laps and won the first stage, but finished 25th after getting caught up in a late-race crash.

Logano and Blaney were on the front row for the final restart after the race's 12th caution. Logano was the control car for the green-white-checkered finish, even though Blaney was actually shown as the leader when they reached the line. Blaney finished third, still his best of the season, after Logano and Ross Chastain both got in front of him on the final run.

Walter Czarnecki, the team's vice chairman, dismissed the notion that back-to-back wins brought a sigh of relief.

“Rather, it reduces the pressure. The fact that here we are ... 11th race of the year, and we got two cars in already for the playoffs. So it allows the team to, I won’t say freewheel, but to be able to do some things that perhaps they might not have been otherwise to do,” Czarnecki said. “Now, the mission is to get Ryan Blaney into the playoffs.”

Blaney is actually the team's highest-ranked driver at seventh in the Cup standings after moving up a spot following his best finish of the season. Logano is ninth and Cindric 14th.

“I’m really proud of this team. Team Penske has been bringing good, competitive cars for the first 11 races. We’ve been in the hunt in every one of them. We’ve qualified very well. Had a chance to win some other races. Now, two in a row. Hope that’s a real momentum builder for us,” Czarnecki said. “If we weren’t bringing good cars or there were other issues, that’s one thing, but we’ve been there. So Blaney’s time is coming, too.”

There are 15 points races left before the playoffs begin Aug. 31. The Cup Series is at Kansas on Sunday, followed by the non-points All-Star Race. Then comes Charlotte, where Blaney has won before. There are also races left at Pocono and Iowa, other places he has driven to Victory Lane.

“I think Blaney surely could have won multiple races,” Paul Wolfe, Logano's crew chief, said after Sunday's race. “I really appreciate that relationship we have amongst our team and specifically the 12. We work very closely together, and it’s kind of ironic how the end of the race we were racing the 12 for the win.

“The way the racing is with limited track time these days and things like that, I think it’s very important the teamwork aspect and how well we’re able to help one another to ultimately make us better on race day and as the race goes on,” he said. "We continue to work together.”

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Austin Cindric (2) leads the field during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Larry Papke)

Ryan Blaney (12) heads into Turn 1 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Larry Papke)

Joey Logano celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Randy Holt)

Ryan Blaney (12) and Joey Logano (22) lead the pack following a caution during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves were missing star Anthony Edwards again.

Their poise was present and accounted for.

With Edwards absent for the second straight game on Sunday with soreness in his right foot, his teammates picked up the slack after a sluggish start — and delivered another steely performance down the stretch on the way to a 117-103 victory over Sacramento.

The Timberwolves outscored the Kings 29-19 over the final 12 minutes, a league-leading eighth time this season they've had a 10-plus-point advantage in the fourth quarter.

“I think our composure down the stretch has gotten a lot better. Our ability to make the right read — and certainly shot making — has helped in those moments,” coach Chris Finch said.

The Timberwolves (17-9), who have won seven of their last eight games, exacted a measure of revenge for their 117-112 overtime loss at Sacramento on Nov. 24 when they blew a 10-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

That game came three nights after they fumbled an eight-point lead with 49 seconds left at Phoenix and lost 114-113.

“We talked about how we need to be better in closing games and the themes that popped up,” Finch said, “and guys have done a good job of addressing that.”

Edwards has been considered day-to-day with his availability. Finch said before the game the injury “hasn't calmed down to the point where he's able to go.”

Backup point guard Mike Conley was also sidelined on Sunday, the 19-year veteran's second straight absence due to a right Achilles tendon injury. The short-handed backcourt meant another start for Bones Hyland, who has recently worked his way into a more meaningful role. Then center Rudy Gobert left the game midway through the third quarter for what the team announced as personal reasons.

The absence of the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner down the stretch forced Naz Reid to play the last 20 minutes of the game. The 2024 Sixth Man of the Year award winner finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds and made sure the interior defense didn't collapse without the long arms of Gobert.

“A lot of the times we kind of understand the sense of urgency in the second half,” Reid said. “It’s nice to kind of have that at the end of the game, but I think we just kind of figure it out as the game goes on. As the second half comes, we kind of all-the-way turn it on, which is like not normal, but we’ve been getting the wins.”

Edwards missed four games earlier this season with a strained right hamstring. The three-time All-Star, who is eighth in the NBA with an average of 28.7 points per game, has already tallied his most absences since the 2021-22 season when he played in 72 games.

With the Timberwolves in a slower stretch of the schedule, Edwards could get eight days of rest while only missing the two games. Minnesota hosts Memphis on Wednesday.

“It’s such a bummer, but sometimes it’s good for some players,” Hyland said. “Sometimes it’s just God opening a door for you. You still want to be there for your teammate if he’s injured, be a good person, good teammate, but also step up. When someone goes down, we’re all a team.”

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Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards watches from the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, left, and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry speak after an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, center, reacts from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)