AUSTIN, Tex. — Less than 15 miles from the state capitol, and just down the road from Wild Bubba’s Wild Game Grill, Austin’s next big thing is rising from a sprawling patch of rock, clay and shrubs.

The Circuit of the Americas will not only put Austin, the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world, in the company of Monte Carlo, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and other international cities in the glamorous world of Formula One racing.

The track will also give Formula One a permanent presence as it once again tries to raise its profile in the United States, which last hosted a Formula One race in 2007. More than 120,000 spectators are expected for the inaugural race in November, for which three-day passes went on sale last Sunday. The next day, the two-time champion Sebastian Vettel went for a test drive on 3.2-mile road course in West New York and Weehawken, N.J., that will host a Formula One race in 2013. And this weekend in Austin, where the biggest sport is University of Texas football, the Formula Expo at the convention center aims to introduce fans to the basics of Formula One through interactive exhibits, racecar simulators, meetings with former drivers and show cars.

To some in Austin, though, screaming racecars and hordes of international glitterati seem out of character in the home of outlaw country music, impassioned environmentalists and a counterculture rooted in the hippie heyday of the 1960s and ’70s.