Suddenly, we notice a van with Ohio plates coming down the hill, pulling a well-prepped ITA Miata on an open trailer...as he pulls closer to our paddock we spot it -- Hoosier tires.

For those that might think this won't happen, it most certainly does. Twice at Summit Point I've had a talkin' to. Once just in general since I qualified well and the other guys were in the middle of a championship, another cause I had two sets of just heat cycled ho-hos. Some did not like that. It was a long tow for me, a competitive class, and I wanted to do my best. Eventually it will happen. Even if on street tires, those drivers are racing, right? Otherwise we'd be doing HPDEs.
The other challenge up in the N.E. is how many regions there are in such close proximity. If I go to the street tires, go to the Glen, many entrants are not a part of my region will be there. No chance of winning. Right now, I want a shot of winning or to at least do the best I can to have the greatest chance of winning.
Lets not forget the DOT tire rule so we stay away from those expensive slick tires. Eventually it catches up.
You're still going to have the best prepped teams on the podium, and best prepped might mean new shaved and properly cycled street tires for every race.

It doesn't sound like Chip and some others are trying to move up in the ranks, but get the drivers to run less expensive tires. You are correct, the drivers will continue find ways to enhance the tires they have available to them.
Another point to be made about reducing costs that I've heard from current competitors is that the street tires cause less wear and tear on other components on the car.

That is absolutely true. When I was going much slower...what wear items? As I progressed and begain using sticker tires, so did the wear items become much more evident.