Austin and its booming crowds an F1 favorite for drivers

By JIM VERTUNO
AP Sports Writer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Fernando Alonso remembers the quiet times in Austin. Back when he could jog the city streets without being noticed, move through the hotel lobby with ease, and drive to the Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix without planning for traffic ahead of time. No more. If anything demonstrates the explosive growth of Formula One in the U.S., it’s the more than 400,000 fans who are expected to pack the city and the circuit this weekend. It is the 10th anniversary of the race that put the series back on American soil.