Race Fans

Steven Wehner had overcome dyslexia, a stint in jail on drug charges and the loss of his repair shop on Martha's Vineyard. Living in the basement of his mother's Rodgers Forge home, he set his sights on his biggest challenge yet: Bringing an IndyCar race to downtown Baltimore. With the drop of the green flag in three weeks, Wehner's dream will roar to life. Glossy race cars are set to dart down newly paved roads alongside the Inner Harbor, bearing on their sleek frames the aspirations of city and state officials who are betting on the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix to draw tens of thousands of race fans, pump tens of millions of dollars into the local economy and burnish the image of the city.

The 135th Preakness Stakes was a blur of perfect weather and outrageous hats, bow ties and tube tops, society types and drunken revelers, parking-space hustlers and soul-savers, and for nearly two minutes — almost beside the point — a horse race. More than 95,000 fans poured into Pimlico Racecourse for the event, won by Lookin At Lucky, whose victory means there will be no Triple Crown champion this year. Attendance was up by about 23 percent. A new alcohol policy — rejiggered for the second year in a row —brought some fans back but also led to gripes about long beer lines.

Construction magnate and self-described "gearhead" Dale Dillon has built offices for high-speed racing teams, laid tracks for IndyCar contests in two cities and, despite having only one leg, raced open-wheeled cars competitively around the country. Now, the Indianapolis-based contractor is poised to become the face of Baltimore's Grand Prix race. He confronts the daunting task of crafting a new image for the racing festival — which drove the previous organizers to financial collapse — and pulling together the massive event in little more than six months.

Doris A. Stricklin, a homemaker and horse racing fan, died Sunday of a stroke at Dulaney-Towson Health Care Center. She was 80.She was born and grew up on her father's farm in Hampstead, where she developed a lifelong interest in horses."

Like most films depicting historic accounts of real-life events, the bio-epic "42" carries the immediate disclaimer that it is based on a true story, leaving room for interpretive analysis and creative license. Consequently, dramatic interpretations are by their nature subject to scrutiny and debate. While the film sticks close to the well-chronicled historic record regarding Jackie Robinson's unique place in time as the first African American to play in the major leagues, its sins are mostly of omission.

It's a race within a race, the Preakness Redux, the rematch of Summer Squall vs. Unbridled.Tomorrow the two colts meet for the first time this year in what could be America's definitive horse race of 1991.That's how special this Preakness Special might be.There are great races yet to come this season, but Pimlico has brought it all together so early in the campaign.But for one last-minute scare yesterday, when there was a possibility that one of the horses might have to be scratched, all seven runners, including the two stars, are sound, fit and at the top of their game.

Nicholas J. DeLuca, former owner of a popular Remington tavern and an avid thoroughbred racing fan, died Wednesday at Sinai Hospital of injuries suffered in a traffic accident. He was 83. Mr. DeLuca, who had lived in Mount Washington for more than 50 years, was returning home from Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday when he was involved in an automobile accident on Northern Parkway. He was born and raised on Huntingdon Avenue in the city's Remington section. He was a graduate of Polytechnic Institute.

CONCORD, N.C. -- The limousine glides silently through the speedway traffic a somber gray shadow amid a noisy jam of pickup trucks, Camaros and custom vans.As traffic slows to a crawl, a rear door of the vehicle opens and a stream of tobacco juice splatters the pavement.Meet the new breed of racing fan a man with a taste for extravagance, and sometimes for a good chew."Hot shots is what I call 'em," says one Charlotte Motor Speedway regular of the surge of monied spectators upgrading the image of this traditionally blue collar sport.

The 135th Preakness Stakes was a blur of perfect weather and outrageous hats, bow ties and tube tops, society types and drunken revelers, parking-space hustlers and soul-savers, and for nearly two minutes — almost beside the point — a horse race. More than 95,000 fans poured into Pimlico Racecourse for the event, won by Lookin At Lucky, whose victory means there will be no Triple Crown champion this year. Announced attendance was up by about 23 percent over last year.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- In horse racing terms, it was dark Tuesday at Santa Anita Park. Perhaps never darker.Bill Shoemaker, the winningest jockey in the history of thoroughbred racing, was partly paralyzed but his condition was upgraded from critical to serious at a Covina hospital after he suffered a broken neck and other injuries when his car went out of control and rolled down an embankment on a freeway transition road in San Dimas Monday night.Down in the stables at the track where much of the legend of Shoemaker was written, high-priced horses were relaxing in their stalls after being put through their early morning paces.