Formula One race planned for Texas is back on track

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A Formula One race planned for Austin, Texas, that last month appeared in jeopardy is back on schedule to be held next Nov. 18, race organizers said Wednesday.

Officials with the planned $300-million Circuit of the Americas complex in Austin said construction ‘will resume immediately’ after Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone ‘received his check today,’ reportedly a $25-million sanctioning fee to F1 required to bring the international racing series to Austin.

Construction had ceased last month when it appeared a deal between Circuit of the Americas and Formula One had fallen through.

But the Austin American-Statesman reported that Ecclestone had confirmed that the U.S. Grand Prix would be held next November. ‘Yes, there will be a race there,’ he said. The Austin date also is included in Formula One’s 20-race schedule for 2012.

If the Austin race is held, it would mark Formula One’s return to the U.S. market after a five-year absence. And New Jersey officials announced in October that they also plan to hold an F1 race in June 2013 on streets along the Hudson River across from Manhattan.

-- Jim Peltz