@BoardgamingParent let me elaborate on my original question with some backstory:

Puerto Rico was a hit and Alea wanted a card based sequel. Seyfarth was given first option and he said he didn't want to, so word was put out requesting designs. Lehman worked on one and submitted it. While this was happening, Seyfarth went back and tinkered with a design and submitted one as well (which became San Juan).

Since Alea didn't use Lehman's design, they turned it loose and he spent another couple years refining it and rethemed it as Race.

The coda to this is that San Juan dropped and the first weekend it was available in Eastern Massachusetts, a young guy walked in and played a handful of games in a comic/game store. At the end of that, he said "fun game, but I can do better" and went home. His efforts (which occurred in breakneck speed, and it sort of shows) became Glory to Rome.

So there are three-ish games that came out of that request Alea made (and then some more than are descendent from them either by the same designers or that the subsequent designers openly referenced) more so than just mechanical homage.

(I have no idea who I've told this too or not anymore, so my apologies if this is the second go around for you.)