These are just my opinions, based on 10+ years of my own racing experience. Take it or leave it, haha.
I don't think ROAR should ever have any business telling racers what equipment they can and cannot use. The bigger non-sanctioned races in the U.S. can undermine any ROAR rule regarding equipment and these races have been MUCH more well attended than any ROAR event lately. These ROAR rules constructed to "control" the cost of racing instead make racing more expensive. As an example, a racer who went out and bought 4200's to use at nearly every non-ROAR race this past year, plus club racing for the year, would have to spend more money on legal batteries (or use his old batteries) just to race a ROAR race. ROAR's equipment approval process cannot keep up with the speed of the industry and understandably so. Have we already forgotten the body fiasco of the on-road Worlds in Florida? There are many other factors in creating a fair and balanced racing environment than restricting the use of new equipment.
There are much larger problems within ROAR's promotion of the racing segment of this hobby than creating a regional qualifying system or trying to use a points system to compare racers from different regions. The RC Pro Series has proven that this is IMPOSSIBLE to do fairly. By mandating that the majority of entries attend a regional to qualify for the Nationals you are creating yet ANOTHER race for the racing public to spend money to travel to, to a race that in the grand scheme of things will not mean anything more than the hundreds of "glorified" club races held across the nation every year.
There's a reason why these "glorified" club races have gained more prestige versus the ROAR National Championships in recent years. More professional venues, prolific advertisement and promotion, more competitive racing fields, and no-nonsense race direction by those within the industry who are still connected with what real racers what to see. Rules that can actually be enforced, an understanding of what is actually important in order to create a fair competition, and less bureaucracy.
I don't think having ROAR-owned tracks are the fix for anything. One of the most exciting parts of going away for a big race is to travel to a new area, race on a new track, and meet new people. The likelihood of being able to pay for the ownership and maintenance of these facilities is restrictive at best. Instead of stealing racers and business from the tracks that already exist, ROAR should be able to "adopt" the tracks selected for the following year's national championship in order to ensure the facility is rule-compliant, racer-accomodating, and prepared to hold and organize a good event.
Let's be realistic. There are not 250 drivers per racing class that are capable of being competitive at the National Championship level. At any given race, you've got maybe 10-20 drivers who are on pace and MAYBE stand a shot at winning; most often, there are five or fewer drivers who stand a serious chance. In the case of the Fuel Off-Road Nationals, this leaves 220+ entries who are at the event just for the experience! A vast majority of these racers take time off of non-industry jobs, spend upwards of $1000 on travel, hotel, and equipment, just to have the chance to go. Why make more hoops for these entrants to jump through in order to join in the experience and watch a good show? This is not the Worlds. There is no need for a resume process, or for qualification into the event. If you want to save entries for the top X drivers from the previous year's race so they cannot be excluded from the event by not signing up quickly enough, fine.
You will never, EVER, stop the factory teams from running new equipment within the rules that is not available to the public, short of using handout cars, radios, etc. And you will never stop the larger companies from stacking all important classes of competition with drivers who are supposed to win in order to advertise product, so stop trying. The 19T class did not help. A sportsman class will not help.
I may be one of the biggest supporters of a National Race Direction team and standardized tech equipment, I think ROAR did well to create this. I don't think that winning the bidding process to host a ROAR National Championship should include the burden of having to pay an adequate crew to help the track host the race. ROAR should supply, at the least, the SAME referees to supervise the track, driver stand, and pit lane behavior, and to operate the tech inspection area. That way the rules are the same, and interpreted the same, at every national event. No surprises, no open interpretation, no loopholes.
If your goal as a ROAR official is to promote the hobby, start at the bottom, do it at the grassroots level, and leave the Nationals alone!