117,500 Peopel Attend Formula 1 Grand Prix In Texas

Color me surprised as 117, 429 people attended the first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin Texas.
From the Austin Statesman:
Officials with the Circuit of the Americas report that 117,429 people watched Lewis Hamilton win the U.S. Grand Prix today.
The attendance number is nearly on-par with the estimated 120,000 people expected to attend the first Formula One race in the U.S. since 2007.http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/racing/entries/2012/11/18/final_count_for_us_grand_prix.html/
Also from the Statesman: 
Two and a half years after a group of investors — some said dreamers — announced it would bring Formula One racing to Austin, more than 117,000 fans packed into the just-completed Circuit of the Americas to watch the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.
And despite beer shortages, long shuttle bus lines after the race and delays on some roads leaving the track, fans and drivers were eager to praise the event.
“The warm welcome we’ve had has been fantastic, and I think this is probably one of the best, if not the best grand prix we’ve had all year,” said winner Lewis Hamilton.
Organizers not only finished the job — which included engineering and building the track, a grandstand, a paddock, an emergency medical building, a media center, a 250-foot tower and temporary bleachers — but just as challenging, race officials managed to move hundreds of thousands of people to and from the track with relative ease.
The race drew a distinctly different kind of Austin tourist, and for many it was the first time to visit the city. For the die-hard fans, the draw of Austin seemed incidental compared with the circuit, but the city also made an impression.  http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/on-f1s-big-day-an-austin-success/nS9WR/
Any time you have a beer shortage, that's not a very successful day.  But I'm glad they got a large crowd and may they can expand the Formula 1 schedule to add at least 1 more race in the United States.