Milwaukee, WI

Raindrops livened up IndyCar at the Milwaukee Mile. What a delightful twist for State Fair Park

Published

7 months ago

August 24, 2025

Raindrops livened up IndyCar at the Milwaukee Mile. What a delightful twist for State Fair Park

WEST ALLIS – In perhaps the most ironic twist possible in this 15-day span at State Fair Park, a five-second sprinkle made all the difference in the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.

Two Sundays earlier, the final day of State Fair, itself, was canceled after 10 inches of rain had flooded the grounds, leaving cars parked on the Milwaukee Mile swamped to their windowsills.

The turnaround already was going to be a challenge.

A staff already exhausted from 11 days of their namesake event – or 9.8 days as it turned out – had less than two weeks to prepare for IndyCar. In 2024, the series helped organize its return to the historic venue, but this time full responsibility would fall on the facility’s staff.

So seeing a favorable forecast for race weekend did everything to lift spirits.

It’s no sure thing, selling Indy car racing, even at a track that’s been around longer than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a town that used to support more than one race a year. Several promoters found that out in the 2000s, resulting in a nine-year gap from the most recent failure to the latest return.

The stands were largely full Aug. 24, and advance sales were enough in the week leading up to the race that additional sections of the grandstand were opened for ticket sales.

In turn, the fans were rewarded with a surprise ending and a first-time winner, Christian Rasmussen.

“We’d returned to this track a couple times since I’ve been doing this,” said winning team owner Ed Carpenter, a longtime participant in the series as driver and car owner. “But it seems like it’s finally working.

“The combination and the growth and the strength of (Milwaukee) and also Road America (in Elkhart Lake), we’ve got a strong fan base. We need to keep building on it.

“I’d love to see when we come back next year that we don’t have to have the sponsor covers on the stands coming down into Turn 1. We want to keep pushing that and getting it better and better. It’s a great racetrack, a ton of history. The past two years it’s been a great show. So I’m happy it’s working.”

Some perspective is needed here.

The grandstand holds about 19,000 people. It was mostly full but not completely. Counting spectators in the infield is tough, but they do count the same as the hospitality guests on the outside of the track and they are hardcore fans, the people who lobbied for IndyCar to give the Mile another try.

As Carpenter mentioned, tarps cover many sections of bleachers. Those seats were needed 30 years ago, around the time the stands were rebuilt. But the IndyCar of today isn’t what the sport was 30 years ago, or 50, when USAC filled the place.

So no, this isn’t the golden age, but pushing 20,000 for a race on a short oval is a very solid effort for this point in history. Smiles outnumbered complaints hundreds of times over.

The first 200 laps of the race weren’t as compelling as either end of the 2024 doubleheader, but blame that on two factors. First, that weekend set a ridiculously high bar. And second, Alex Palou was doing what he has done often in 2025, carving up the field with surgical precision.

But a funny thing happened on Palou’s way to a ninth win in 16 races.

It rained.

Nothing like the 1,000-year flood, mind you, not the sort that swamps Fair-goers’ cars parked on the track up to their windows. But a couple of drops, from who knows where. And so flew the yellow flag.

“Even though it was not good for me, I agree with the decision,” said Palou, the already-crowned four-time champion. “Maybe in Turn 1 or Turn 3, suddenly you spin because they didn’t call the yellow, so …”

So it was decision time.

If there was one thing learned from 2024 it was the value of fresh tires. Palou had stopped with 54 laps to go, and the caution flag came out 13 laps later. Some teams would bring their drivers back in and hope to make up the distance on new tires. If Palou pitted again, someone else would have gambled and stayed out to try to beat him that way.

For Palou, the call was 50-50. For Rasmussen, sitting in seventh, it was a no-brainer.

“We talked about this before the race, knowing if there’s going to be a late yellow, we set kind of the margin if you can have a 20-lap advantage on the other cars, that’s going to make a big difference,” Rasmussen said. “That’s what we did.

“I’ve been very comfortable on especially the new tires even passing other cars (on the same strategy). We were doing that pretty well early in the stints. I was feeling good.”

The aggressive, 25-year-old Dane restarted seventh, cut his way through the field, went wheel-to-wheel with Palou for a lap and then pulled away over the final 16 laps.

“I knew he was going to race hard,” Palou said. “He was going to pass me or go to the wall.”

Rasmussen’s reputation is that he is aggressive and fearless, but he is more than that.

As he pointed out, he has not fallen out of any races this season because of mistakes he has made, only due to mechanical issues. Rasmussen sat out three races in his 2024 rookie season while Carpenter drove the short-oval races at Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway before Rasmussen took over the No. 21 Chevrolet completely. Five of his six top-10 finishes in 2025 have come on ovals. Rasmussen’s first win was only a matter of time.

“People talk about they don’t like everything he does,” Carpenter said. “We haven’t asked him to change one thing. He’s attacking and being aggressive, not settling for anything. That’s the mentality we want to have as a team.”

And to think, a sprinkle made the outcome possible.

Had Palou won again, fans would remember his dominance, a hallmark of the NTT IndyCar Series in 2025. The number of laps Palou led – 199, and it would have been 215 – would have overshadowed the fact that the race included 685 passes, second-most in series history to the first Milwaukee race in 2024, including 48 by Rasmussen.

Cheers overpowered engine noise when Rasmussen won. The donuts he turned on the front stretch were as popular as a cream puff.

The race and celebration were the sort of lift State Fair Park needed as it tries to rebuild a tradition and as it begins negotiations to extend its contract to bring IndyCar to the Mile beyond 2026.

“Personally I had a bunch of my family here, in the stands, hanging out,” said Scott McLaughlin, the New Zealander who finished third. “Not far from the city. The fairgrounds at the back … it’s unreal.

“Massive credit goes out to Wisconsin State Fair Park. … I was really happy to have a big crowd today, seeing them in the grandstands, it was awesome.”

So was the devilish twist delivered by an unseen cloud.

Source link

Click to comment

Milwaukee, WI

Black joins Giannis, KPJ as out, How To Watch Orlando Magic-Milwaukee Bucks Lineups, Injuries, Betting Lines & More

Published

8 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Black joins Giannis, KPJ as out, How To Watch Orlando Magic-Milwaukee Bucks Lineups, Injuries, Betting Lines & More

The Orlando Magic put together one of its strongest efforts of the season in Minnesota on Saturday, squashing one of the West’s best 119-92. They’ll look to continue a road win streak that began in L.A. with wins over the Clippers and Lakers.

Milwaukee also won on Saturday, pulling away from the Utah Jazz 113-99 to snap a two-game skid that coincided with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from a 14-game absence due to a calf injury.

Antetokounmpo’s presence was necessary deep into the fourth quarter due to the game being tight, so that prevents him from participating in this one. Kevin Porter Jr. is also out.

The Magic are even with the Miami Heat atop the Southeast Division, although they hold a tie-braker since they have defeated Miami all four times they’ve played. The Magic’s upset of Minnesota has pushed them up to sixth place in the East.

Orlando is 14-15 on the road 20-19 against Eastern Conference foes. Milwaukee is 15-16 at home and 19-23 against Eastern Conference competition.

Vitals – How to Watch Magic at Bucks

Game date, time and location: Sunday, March 8, 8:10 p.m. EST, Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida (Magic), FanDuel Sports Wisconsin (Bucks)

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game/AM 740 WYGM (Magic), WTMJ (Bucks)

Magic look to extend road win streak to four by ending Bucks’ run

The Orlando Magic (34-28) visit the Milwaukee Bucks (27-35) in the third and final matchup between these teams this season.

The Magic last won a season series from Milwaukee in 2011-12, but have gone 14-35 since, which includes an upset loss (116-108) in the final game prior to the break. Cam Thomas, having just been signed after getting his release from the Brooklyn Nets, scored 34 points to complement a Kevin Porter Jr. triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists), so the Bucks are still in position to win this year’s series 2-1 if it can pull an upset on Sunday night.

The Bucks have opened up a 77-57 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1989-90. Milwaukee won the first nine matchups.

Betting Lines (via DraftKings)

Spread: Magic -6.5 (-112), Bucks +6.5 (-115)

Moneyline: Magic -218, Bucks +180

Total: 216.5 (Over -112, Under -108)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

PROJECTED STARTERS

MAGIC

F Tristan da Silva

F Paolo Banchero

C Wendell Carter Jr.

G Jalen Suggs

G Desmond Bane

BUCKS

F Ousmane Dieng

F Pete Nance

C Myles Turner

G Ryan Rollins

G AJ Green

INJURY REPORT

MAGIC

Anthony Black: Out – Low Back Strain

Jonathan Isaac: Out – Left Knee Soreness

Franz Wagner: Out – Left High Ankle Sprain Injury Management

Jase Richardson: Out – Lower Back Spasms

Alex Morales: Out – G League (Two-way)

Colin Castleton: Out – G League (Two-way)

BUCKS

Giannis Antetokounmpo: Out – Right Calf Injury Management

Kevin Porter Jr.: Out – Right Knee Swelling

Kyle Kuzma: Out – Thoracic Spine Contusion

Taurean Prince: Out – Neck Surgery Recovery

Cormac Ryan: Out – G League (Two-way)

Alex Antetokounmpo: Out – G League (Two-way)

Source link

Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee living has become unaffordable for too many people | Opinion

Published

20 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Milwaukee living has become unaffordable for too many people | Opinion

In the first half of 20th Century, Socialists helped make Milwaukess an affordable, comfortable, well-governed place. Now, there’s been a fundamental change to the character of this city.

Ryan Clancy
| Special to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee is facing a housing affordability crisis, with some estimates suggesting a household needs $134,000 to live comfortably.
Median rent in the city has increased by 28% between 2020 and 2024, significantly impacting renters.
The author advocates for expanding the “Right to Counsel” program, which provides attorneys for people facing eviction.
Proposed solutions include banning discrimination against Section 8 voucher recipients and establishing stronger tenant protections.

Life in Milwaukee is unaffordable for too many people, and it’s getting worse. We’re a city that used to be an affordable, comfortable, well-governed place to live. Socialists helped make it that way in the first half of the 20th century through deep, sustainable investments in public infrastructure and public programs. Neoliberalism, though, has undone much of the strength of our world class city.

Now, after multiple recessions, decades of defunding infrastructure and services at the state, county and city levels, and now with an economy thrown into chaos by President Trump, Milwaukee has become one of the twenty most expensive cities in the country. By some estimates, a household now needs at least $134,000 in income to live comfortably here.

That’s a fundamental change to the character of this city, one that deeply worries me — as both a Milwaukeean and a legislator representing much of our city.

Change in city’s character hitting renters hard

This is hitting renters hard: between the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2024, Milwaukee’s median rent went up a staggering 28%. And this didn’t happen accidentally. We have a system that’s been made to work very well for landlords and real estate interests, who’ve made rent control and habitability inspections effectively impossible here. Unsurprisingly, that means rents are going up while housing quality goes down. It’s difficult to be a tenant in Wisconsin.

Housing isn’t like most other things we buy and budget for. People invest emotionally in the places they live and the people they live alongside. Homeowners build equity too while getting predictable housing costs, at least under most mortgages. But an East Side apartment that used to cost $1200/mo is not replaceable by a house in Oconomowoc that costs the same – very different people prefer one to the other, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.

We must keep this top of mind while making housing policy. Most people don’t want to leave their neighborhoods, especially the close-knit ones in our district. They want to stay where they’ve already put down roots, whether as a homeowner or a renter. When a family leaves, it’s too often because they can no longer afford to live here. That’s a problem that can’t be solved by zoning changes alone – it’s not a bad thing if some communities want to allow more back cottages and even duplexes and triplexes, but that simply isn’t enough, and isn’t a viable solution for many neighborhoods.

We can do much more to keep Milwaukeeans in their homes.

A Right to Counsel — providing attorneys for people facing eviction – is a proven way to do that: I led the successful effort to make it law in Milwaukee County back in 2021, and it’s since kept thousands of people in their homes, given them extra time to seek rent assistance, and sealed misleading eviction records to help renters keep renting. Expanding Right to Counsel statewide is a core part of our tenant protection package, but securing permanent funding for the existing program here in Milwaukee is critical.

Since its creation, Milwaukee’s executive leadership has attempted to defund the program – which has thankfully been saved by votes by the Common Council and Milwaukee County Board. This is despite the clearly positive results for tenants and landlords alike, and despite every dollar spent on the program saving us $4.66 in other costs. A statewide, well-funded program can build on and sustain that legacy, ensuring that Milwaukee residents — and folks across the state — will benefit from the stability that Right to Counsel creates.

Ban discrimination against Section 8 voucher recipients

We’re also proposing to ban discrimination against Section 8 voucher recipients, to establish stronger protections for tenants organizing for better living conditions, to lift arbitrary restrictions on inspections for lead and for other profound habitability issues, and to enact other key protections that blunt the worst practices of small and big landlords alike.

These protections are urgent and necessary because real estate interests and landlords are aggressively fighting to make things harder for tenants. Just before the end of the session, they pushed AB 202, a bill that would undermine some of the very few protections for tenants in Wisconsin law. Very few of my colleagues who are landlords recused themselves – that’s an obvious conflict of interest, but it’s the norm in a legislature where tenants’ needs come last.

The underlying problem in our housing system is a deep dependence on capital, not democracy, to choose where and when we build new housing. When the federal government raises interest rates, it makes both private and public housing funding more expensive, so developers build less. When rent forecasts go down, developers build less — putting the lie to the notion that private housing builders and landlords are somehow at odds.

Our long term goal must be housing as a human right. That means social housing or public housing for people who want them, but also transparency and accountability for private landlords, an end to exploitative, uncapped rent extraction, and an effective ban on low quality housing. In the meantime, better protecting tenants will help all of us.

Rep. Ryan Clancy represents the 19th District in the Wisconsin Assembly. He is also a former Milwaukee County Supervisor.

Source link

Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing tonight vs. the Jazz?

Published

1 day ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Milwaukee Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing tonight vs. the Jazz?

The Milwaukee Bucks host the tanking Utah Jazz tonight, March 7, at Fiserv Forum in a must-win game that also sees the Bucks on a four-game losing streak. They have also lost five of their last seven games to fall further out of the postseason picture in the Eastern Conference.

“‘Cause this league, anything can happen,” Bucks guard AJ Green said after the team shot around Saturday morning. “We’ve lost four in a row. Somebody else can lose four in a row, we win four in a row and we’re right back there. So just control the controllables, focus on us.”

The Bucks are 26-35 overall and even with Giannis Antetokounmpo returning to action this week, the offense has continued to struggle. The team has scored fewer than 100 points in four of those five losses. Milwaukee’s defense, one of the poorest in the league all season, has remained sievelike as well, allowing 120.1 points per game in over the last seven.

Utah would appear to be a good team to break a losing streak against, as the Jazz are efforting to finish with one of the league’s worst records. At 19-44, they have the fifth-worst mark in the league. If their pick falls out of the top eight in May’s NBA draft lottery, it will go to Oklahoma City as part of a 2021 trade.

That said, the Jazz have the seventh-best scoring offense in the league and young guards in Keyonte George (24 points per game) and Ace Bailey (12.4) that could give the Bucks trouble. Utah does own the league’s worst scoring defense, however.

Is Giannis playing?

Yes.

The Bucks superstar is no longer on the injury report after returning from a nearly six-week absence due to a right calf strain. Antetokounmpo is playing under a minutes restriction, however, and logged just under 26 minutes in his first two games on March 2 and March 4.

Is Doc Rivers retiring?

On March 5, Rivers’ former ESPN colleague Stephen A. Smith said on a SiriusXM radio that the Bucks’ head coach was going to hang it up after the season.

Following his team’s practice on March 6, Rivers issued somewhat of a denial.

“No, I’m not getting into that,” Rivers said. “That’s something that’s; I think he feels that way, but not from me.”

Smith offered his take on Rivers’ future when he was asked if Ja Morant would be helped by being coached by the Hall of Fame finalist if he were to be acquired by the Bucks in the offseason.

“It’s not gonna be Doc Rivers because Doc Rivers is gonna retire at the end of this season,” Smith said. “Doc Rivers has been coaching for close to 25 years, this is it for him. He’s gonna step away.”

NBA playoff standings

The Bucks are out of the postseason picture entirely. Here are the play-in standings in the Eastern Conference heading into game play on March 7:

No. 7: Miami (35-29): The Bucks and Magic have split the season series 1-1. Milwaukee travels to Miami on March 12.

No. 8: Orlando (33-28): The Bucks and Magic have split the season series 1-1. The Bucks host the Magic on March 8.

No. 9: Atlanta (32-31): The Bucks and Hawks have split the season series 1-1. Milwaukee travels to Atlanta on March 14.

No. 10: Charlotte (32-32): The Bucks own the tiebreaker over the Hornets having won the season series 3-1.

No. 11: Milwaukee (26-35): The Bucks have had better luck against the play-in teams to date, as they are just 5-14 against the top six seeds in the conference.

“I think you can look at (the standings) and just see what it is but you gotta then come back to the now,” Green said. “We have a game today. How can we get better today? What do we need to work on. We gotta win today. Just keep controlling what we can and worry about ourselves.”

Taurean Prince, out (neck surgery)
Kevin Porter Jr., out (right knee swelling)

Bucks probable starting lineup

Guards: AJ Green, Ryan Rollins
Forwards: Ousmane Dieng, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Center: Myles Turner

What time is the Bucks game?

The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. CT.

What channel is the Bucks game on?

The game will be simulcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and WMLW The M with Lisa Byington, Wesley Matthews and Melanie Ricks on the call.