Raceway

FORT WORTH, Texas --Tony Stewart says he's racing in a different league from NASCAR's playoff contenders. Checker Auto Parts 500 Sunday, 3 p.m., Phoenix International Raceway, chs. 11, 4

Laurel Race Course canceled its live cards yesterday and today because of inclement weather. Rosecroft Raceway plans a 12-race program tonight but will announce a final decision between noon and 1 p.m.Penn National also canceled yesterday's card.

Rosecroft Raceway's scheduled program last night was canceled after the drivers met and decided not to race because of frost beneath portions of the track.Rosecroft was open only for simulcasting from The Meadowlands after losing its seventh consecutive racing day to weather problems.

In a sports article in Thursday's editions of The Sun about the state's harness racing industry, Beth Trotto was identified as a Rosecroft Raceway board member. She is a member of the board of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners' Association, whose members are stockholders of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc. That entity, which owns and operates the track, has a separate board.

The date of the Graduate Pacing Series at Rosecrof Raceway was reported incorrectly in The Sun yesterday. The races will be run Saturday night.FORT WASHINGTON -- Harness racing's "traveling road show" comes to Rosecroft Raceway tomorrow night in the form of the Graduate Pacing Series.Two races for older horses, each worth $56,250, will be contested.The first division, which will be the sixth race, will be headed by Dorunrun Bluegrass, voted the top older pacer of 1990. The 5-year-old will be guided by Herve Filion, harness racing's all-time leading driver.

FORT WASHINGTON -- Rosecroft Raceway equaled its fastest mile of the year in the first race last night, as Precious Beau just caught favored Sanj at the wire. The 1-minute, 55 4/5-second clocking was even more impressive considering that the track was rated only "good" after intermittent rain the past two days.Tom Jackson drove Precious Beau, who set a career mark for owner/trainer Judy Welty of Westminster.

In a procedural showdown over the proposed $100 million NASCAR speedway in Middle River, more than 100 people packed a Towson hearing room last night as business representatives argued with residents about the speedway's value to eastern Baltimore County.With beefed-up security to handle a crowd that spilled into the hallway, the Baltimore County Planning Board heard representatives of chambers of commerce and local businesses praise the raceway as a potential savior for the county's eastside, which suffers from high unemployment.

Laurel/Pimlico operator Joe De Francis told Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association officials over the weekend that he will accept the horsemen's offer to contribute 2 percent of their handle at the Rosecroft Raceway inter-track betting outlet to help pay for costs of operating the afternoon simulcast facility.Horsemen will now pay about $500,000 annually to keep the site open.However, De Francis still plans to reopen negotiations with management of the state's harness tracks to restructure the financial aspects of the cross-breed simulcasting program.

BALTIMORE COUNTY leaders have taken a sensible stand on plans for a 48,000-seat NASCAR speedway in Middle River at a critical juncture.Last week, the planning board -- moving fast at the behest of racing promoters who are anxious to attract investors -- recommended amending the zoning law to allow racetracks. The law presently makes no provision for them.Promoters are pushing the County Council to vote on that recommendation soon. But the administration of County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Councilman Vincent J. Gardina have wisely agreed that no changes in the law will be made until some key questions are resolved.

County inspectors have ordered a second rubble landfill closed for exceeding its approved capacity.John Peacock, chief of environmental enforcement for the county Department of Inspections and Permits, said the Cunningham Rubble Landfill in Crofton was ordered to shut down operations Nov. 30 on most of its 30-acre site.Dumping continues on five acres, which inspectors said had not yet reached capacity, Peacock said.Peacock has asked Administrative Hearing Officer Robert C. Wilcox to order the landfill on Raceway Drive, adjacent to Capital Raceway, permanently closed.