So, remember that Formula One Grand Prix race that was scheduled for November of next year in Austin, Texas? The one they’re building an all-new multimillion dollar track and associated complex for as we write this? Yeah, turns out the contract to hold the race next year has been killed. If a new one isn’t hammered out by December 7th, the race will be slashed from the schedule.

So says tenderized Hublot spokesman, literal sugar daddy and Formula One big banana Bernie Ecclestone. According to Ecclestone, Formula One originally signed a contract with racing promoter Tavo Hellmund’s Full Throttle Productions, but they tore up the deal six months ago because Hellmund was in (an unspecified) breach of it. Bernie added that F1 has been in talks with Circuit of the Americas about signing a deal with the track owners themselves for the race, but since CotA can’t or won’t provide them with a letter of credit that proves they can pay for the race, F1 won’t offer them a contract.

Why can’t Circuit of the Americas score a letter of credit? Well, it may have something to do with the fact that the race reportedly no longer has a guaranteed $25 million coming in from the state’s Major Events Trust Fund, which is designed to defer the costs of large-scale sporting events by giving organizers a chunk of the tax revenues generated by all the people eating, drinking, sleeping, driving, buying, and screwing in Texas as a result of the event. We’re not sure why this chunk of change has dried up all of a sudden; the Major Events Trust Fund website still explicitly mentions “Formula One automobile races” among the eligible events. Maybe if they hold the Breeders’ Cup World Championships simultaneously, they’ll be able to get that cash. [via SPEED]