Racing Fans

The Preakness it's not. No mobs of young people in the infield or fancily dressed women in colorful hats in the grandstand or even live horses running around Pimlico's dirt track. Still, hundreds of dedicated race fans showed up at the Northwest Baltimore track Saturday to watch and bet on simulcast broadcasts of horses running in Delaware, New Jersey and New York, as they waited for a horse with the unlikely name of Drosselmeyer to win the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes, racing's third leg of the Triple Crown.

CLAUDIA COFFEY hadn't slept for a whole week. She tied a white handkerchief to her wrist to dab the tears."This is really heartbreaking," she said as she checked coats for people at the Pimlico Restaurant, which closed last night after more than 40 years.Regular eaters know her as the living legend who created one of Pimlico's favorite dishes, the Coffey Salad. It's ''a Pimlico exclusive created by our own Claudia Coffey,'' said the menu. "A garden-fresh medley of lettuce, tomato and onion accented with anchovies, hard-boiled egg, garlic and freshly grated imported Parmesan."

After facing the wrath of hundreds of angry residents at community meetings in Baltimore County and southern Anne Arundel County, racetrack supporters now hoping to put a proposed speedway in Pasadena tried a new approach yesterday: They threw a party.With a markedly different tone than last month's racetrack protest in southern Anne Arundel, 200 auto racing fans from the Baltimore region showed up in good spirits yesterday afternoon at Cactus Cantina, a country and western bar near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, to look at a race car, win raffle prizes and get organized.

When Ralph Cox, 7, drifts off to sleep at night in his Northeast Baltimore bedroom, his head rests on a NASCAR pillow, street lights filter through his NASCAR driver window curtains, a NASCAR bedspread keeps him warm.NASCAR mania also has hit Wally and Delores Wheeler, who meet with dozens of other fans on Sundays to cheer televised races at Rock-A-Billy's bar in Middle River -- not far from the site of a proposed $100 million motor sports speedway complex.The honor student from Armistead Gardens and the retired couple are part of the swarm of fans that has made auto racing the fastest growing spectator sport in America and changed the face of the sport.

When Ralph Cox, 7, drifts off to sleep at night in his Northeast Baltimore bedroom, his head rests on a NASCAR pillow, street lights filter through his NASCAR driver window curtains, a NASCAR bedspread keeps him warm.NASCAR mania also has hit Wally and Delores Wheeler, who meet with dozens of other fans on Sundays to cheer televised races at Rock-A-Billy's bar in Middle River -- not far from the site of a proposed $100 million motor sports speedway complex.The honor student from Armistead Gardens and the retired couple are part of the swarm of fans that has made auto racing the fastest growing spectator sport in America and changed the face of the sport.

When the final All-Star Game voting is announced tonight, the closest competition could be between players in different leagues.Only a few starting positions were in doubt going into the final week of fan balloting, which concluded over the weekend. But Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken and Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg were in a tight race for highest vote total.The top vote-getters in each league will be recognized in ceremonies before the All-Star Game in San Diego on Tuesday. Ripken and Sandberg had comfortable leads in the American and National leagues, respectively, and were relatively close in overall totals.

Preakness officials had Pimlico's dirt track steamrolled twice, workers in Columbia spread mulch at the site of the two-day Wine in the Woods festival and Hood College employees set up tents for commencement, scheduled for today in Frederick, as area event organizers worked feverishly yesterday to counteract the effects of two inches of rainfall. Organizers hope that their efforts pay off today. Forecasters say a light drizzle should stop by early afternoon with temperatures in the 60s, giving weekend revelers plenty of time to enjoy horseracing, wine and graduation.

Inez Alice Chappell, a former Pennsylvania Avenue manicurist and thoroughbred racing fan, died Nov. 2 of heart failure at Seasons Hospice at Northwest Hospital Center. The Northwest Baltimore resident was 86. The daughter of an arabber and a homemaker, Miss Chappell was born and raised in West Baltimore and Harlem Park. She was a 1943 graduate of the old Frederick Douglass High School and Cortez Peters Business School. For more than two decades, Miss Chappell worked as a manicurist at Pennsylvania Avenue barbershops.

As the racing season comes to an end, I thought a look at the new books that have crossed my desk would be a good way to wrap up the year and give some of you ideas for holiday presents: Prototypes, the History of the IMSA GTP Series by J.A Martin and Ken Wells (David Bull Publishing, $89.95). Author Jim Martin is from Chase. He is an industrial designer who started writing about motorsports so he could get closer to the cars and drivers he loves. You can tell he is a fan by the way he writes about the IMSA series, long before you arrive at the back of the book, where Martin tells of the delight he had interviewing the likes of Bobby Rahal, Bob Tullius and Derek Bell.