1. The FAA has taken advantage of 9/11 to restrict alternate uses of airports. You know those racers are a very suspicious bunch.

2. Having followed a north east skiing forum, there has been much discussion of the difficulties faced in opening or improving a ski area in the NE. If there is that much of a problem dealing with a few lift motors or water pumps, imagine the hoops needed to be jumped through for a "dirty" race track.... Hmmm.. then again with all the extant ski areas, has anyone thought of trying to pull a Wilmot Hills at a NE ski area?

3. the "non spectator" event is actually a later SCCA development. Originally, SCCA races was all about the spectator. Of course, it was also the case that most regions only put on a handful of events each year at most. Then again, the above mentioned ski forum is full of stories about ski areas that have disappeared since we entered the litigation era, gone away along with our big spectator events.