Yep. A friend and I ran a D/SA Road Runner in the mid 90's. Payouts were still decent then, but the National event schedules were nuts. Show up Thursday, maybe get one run, maybe one Friday, possibly Saturday. First round Saturday afternoon or evening (try dialing after that schedule!), finish up Sunday. Or maybe two runs Friday, go into elims Staurday. LOTS of waiting around. And yes, all fill in. The divisionals weren't as bad, but still a long weekend, especially if you went out 1st round after all of that. You could win 15K for a national, and I think about 3K for a divisional (with the right decals) back then, so it was a gamble. I was able to break that habit, but I know of plenty of guys that have been doing it since the 70's! And as you said, it's even more $ to get in, and lower payouts. Not to mention motels and meals. We enjoyed going to local Stock/Super Stock combo races a lot more. Get there in the late morning, and be home at dinner time. What a concept!
