Dick,
SCCA club racing is one of the few clubs ,Worldwide, that allows tires that have a lifespan of a few hours. Most clubs run on 180 TW tires. Many are a spec tire. Racing is very good and the 6 tires can last all year on 2000# cars, with very little , if any lap time degradsion . . The lap time creep is well inside the driver induced data noise. Unlike the Hoes.
Chumpcar tire rules have proven that the racing can be very close, the tires last and no body has died from going slower. There is plenty of data out there. Lookat the Euro clubs, VW Cup, PR club racing like EA86 tossed out,The DR clubs. etc.

The SCCA club racer that races 2X per year; The second time out on the HOHO tires , they are hard,dried out, not consistent. Hoes are a deterrent from racing for the "seldom racer".

Of course the cost of racing comes down as the cost per hr comes down. Stop arguing that please. It's non sense.
Of course the fast big dollar guys will still use all available tools to stay in front. It's racing. It's part of racing.

I moved out of IT to Prod,mostly due to the tires. If my Son is going to race, I want a venue that I can almost afford. Buying Hoes every race weekend is not an option for us.
Sometimes I think that Iam the only one, but more often than not, I am just the vocal one. My 4/100$, take offs last until the cords and have slowed down before I get them. yes, fresh Hoes are faster..