Formula One has been absent from the United States since 2007, but fear not, open-wheel devotees — it's coming back! Starting in 2012, you'll be able to see some sleek, smooth Euroracing in the motorsports hotbed of ...

... Austin, Texas. Yeah, I'm not sure why, either.

Actually, it's pretty obvious why. F1 has tried for years to get back into the U.S., most recently through a convoluted and controversial plan to put a race in New Jersey. At last, though, Formula One president Bernie Ecclestone has brokered a deal to bring a race to Texas under a deal that runs from 2012 to 2021.

Now, you're most likely unfamiliar with Austin's open-wheel history, and there's a good reason for that: there is none. There's no track, no race infrastructure, nothing. Austin is going ground-up for this endeavor, which would be the first track built in the United States specifically for Formula One. Previous events in Las Vegas, Phoenix and other locations used existing city streets, and Indianapolis,

This weekend will see the latest running of the Indianapolis 500, a singular moment in our sporting year. And while the race doesn't have the reach or influence it's had in past decades, it's nonetheless the best-attended sporting event in America, year after year. For that alone, the Indy 500 deserves our undying respect.

But if Indy's first, who's next? And where do our favorite other sports stack up, attendance-wise, against the Indianapolis 500? Let's take a look at the numbers.

Now, counting attendance at mammoth events like the Indianapolis 500 is a study in guesswork. The track itself estimated that there were about 250,000 seats at the track, but nobody has any idea how many people could fit into the infield. The same is true at Daytona International Speedway and Churchill Downs. Everybody piles in, and the tracks focus on keeping everybody safe rather than counting heads.

Thus, in some cases, we're looking at average attendance, and in others, where certain sports were

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, a movement has started to make the Indianapolis 500 the most prestigious race in the country again. And boy, it's a doozy.

Many of the proposed changes center around the car and innovation. The current IndyCar is expected to be replaced by IndyCar's version of the COT in 2012 (just as long as it's not the Delta Wing, please), so there will already be sweeping changes across the board.

But according to Mike Hull, Scott Dixon's crew chief, and Dennis Reinbold, co-owner of Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, there also needs to be more connection between the consumer auto industry and open-wheel racing. From the Journal:

"Changes need to be made in IndyCar to make it relevant with what people in the automotive industry are talking about today-green technology; smaller, more efficient engines; fuel use and performance; and lighter cars and engines," Hull said.

"Everybody is so caught up in what the car will look like," he said. "Instead, we should

Hey, here's some good news: Bill Elliott is on the entry list for this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. It'll mark his 61st start in Charlotte. And since he's a past champion, he's guaranteed a slot, no matter what.

Much like certain baseball players and hair-metal music, Elliott gets dismissed or overlooked these days because he dominated in the cultural and sporting wasteland that was the 1980s. But try these stats on for size: From 1983 to 1995, he finished in the top 10 in 12 of 13 seasons, and in the 13th, he finished 11th. Included in that total were a championship, three second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. The dude could flat-out wheel.

He's still out there trying. Believe it or not, he ran 20 races as recently as 2008. But he just doesn't have the equipment anymore. One wonders how he would have fared had he gotten the Mark Martin treatment — top-flight cars, top-flight team support — in his later years, seeing as how he's only a couple years older than

In one of the most unfortunate stories of the 2010 Sprint Cup season up to now, Brian Vickers has been diagnosed with pulmonary embolism, or blood clots in the lungs. He's been put on blood thinners and had left the hospital, only to return the next day when the pain returned. Of course, we were all hoping to see a speedy recovery, but alas, it's not to be. He will have to be on blood thinners for an undetermined time to come, and as a result of this will be sitting out the rest of the season.

Talking it over with his doctor and the general manager of Red Bull Racing, Brian tried to make light of the matter: "I can actually race on blood thinners, I just can't crash," he said in a interview Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "So I told them if I promise I won't crash, will they let me race?

"The answer was ‘No.'"

A crash while on blood thinners could be life-threatening, and Brian and Red Bull are not willing to take the risk. But Brian loves racing, and swears to return. "This is

Everybody loves to dump on Pocono, Atlanta and California as deserving of losing one of their races, but how about Dover? That's one of our topics this week, along with all-star talk and the discussion of whether our lives would be better if our last name was Earnhardt.

Come hang with Jay Earnhardt and Nick Earnhardt -- formerly known as Jay Busbee and Nick Bromberg -- as we discuss these issues and many more at The Chrome Horn. It's like infield talk, only without the possibility of getting rousted by the cops.

As always, we welcome your thoughts, ideas, and recommendations on the podcast. Hit me up at jay.busbee@yahoo.com, or feel free to call our direct podcast line at 678-389-9173 and leave a comment or question for use on a future podcast. For now, though, click the little arrow below to play the podcast or right-click the link to download, and hit the iTunes site linked below to subscribe. Enjoy!

The Chrome Horn, episode 35: We are all Earnhardts

Seven time Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher has started to toss around the idea of retirement. It doesn't seem too imminent, and Schumacher says that even he doesn't know when that day will come. But one thing's for certain, he's not stepping back into the cockpit once he does retire.

“I will never come back and drive again,” Tony Schumacher said. “I may come back as a team owner and I may just work towards running a team. I know how to win, I have a great team, but more than that I know how to read a team and I’d hate to give that up and use that to build other good drivers so, it’s hard to say. You go away and miss it more than you’ve ever dreamt you’d miss it. I don’t know. Again, nobody will dictate what I do except me and my family. We’ll talk about that and make those decisions.”

It's not like Schumacher has a reason to go out and retire because he's running poorly. He won Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka, which until the weekend had been one of the two tracks (Atlanta is the

Major-media reports on local dirt track racing are like 3 a.m. phone calls -- they're usually not good news. Hopefully this one won't be too problematic, but it was scary while it happened.

A car racing at Big Daddy's Speedbowl in Concord, New Hampshire on Sunday night took to the air and crashed into the pit area. Two men were injured, suffering broken bones and other injuries, but fortunately neither appear to be life-threatening.

Mike Rivers, owner of the facility, estimated that the car was traveling about 80 mph when it hit a wall and subsequently left the ground. He noted that people have stood at that same location watching races for more than 40 years. The track has been open since the mid-1960s; according to its website, it's one of the oldest tracks in New England.

Our best wishes to the injured fans for a quick recovery. And to everyone else -- don't stop going to dirt tracks, but keep your eyes open while there.