I have one question about races in general.
When do they get soo big on entries that they become un-manageable? Sure its nice to see large entries, but, unless the host track is relying on the entry fees for a income, I really don't see why you need 300+ entries at a National event. Something like 120-150 is much more manageable, and your day doesn't drag out into a 24 hour marathon, where there is a good chance your heat runs around 2am. The racers don't like the hours and the support crew still has to be there, which I'm sure they'd rather be in bed as well. At least then if you got finished at 6pm you could have a actual social event.
Maybe this is something ROAR should consider. Have some way of qualifying to be eligible to run at the Nats and have a actual cutoff of the entries for the Nats. (There used to be a cutoff for the Worlds and then a waitlist for those that could attend that didn't qualify thru the Regional Championships.)
The Winners of the Nats get a automatic seat to the Worlds, Mod would have all race fees paid for. The winner of the Stock Nats gets a factory sponsorship for mod equipment, but also cannot run in the Stock Nats for 2 years after winning.
I also checked the RCLive website and didn't read anywhere that they would guarantee live race coverage, so you pretty much take what you can get, and I think they did all they could with what facilities where available to them. How this means its ROARs fault totally mystifies me.