My region is fairly user friendly about such issues and I will take some credit for that. I have been arguing for less hassles and reduction of silly rules in the supps at road racing board meetings for years and yet there are often people that want to add something like that. We had a proposal for a cancellation fee just this last winter, and it came from people I respect. Fortunately it failed.
The economics of running a race event is very dependent of number of entries. There is a fairly high fixed cost and only a bit of variable cost. A swing of 20 cars can make a pretty big difference in the bottom line. Given that I always figured that as a region you want to be the one that is easy to race with. Even if 10 percent of your driver pool thinks like Dan it can have a big effect on your profitability.
I enter way ahead and pay at the window. If I have to mail a check ahead of time I think twice before I enter that race.