When an FIA event is conducted, there is a significant fee for the FIA, about 12 to 15 thousand for starters. You also have to be allowed into the USAC or other sanctioning body to be allowed to run (kind like getting voted into the Elks Club). You also have a venue set up for multiple racers so there are usually timing systems set up, course survey and marked, food court, officials, safety equipment and all the other things. Even when it is distributed amoungst several race teams it will cost you quite a bit. Now imagine if there is NO FIA event available in this year because of any number of reasons, ie: bad salt or rain out. For ONE guy to change his venue to some lakebed in the middle of nowhere, can he afford to mark out a course and get it surveyed? Can he afford the cost of the FIA, USAC, USAFRA or SCTA clocks plus all the other costs. Probably not. Just because he has no event to go to what is wrong with making a single car event affordable? When we went out last year, the Rice Brothers clocks were not available because Cook had them committed already. We had our time already set by the BLM and our own team availability so we were locked in too. We did get the USAFRA clocks for about $5000 just to make sure there was no complaint launched that would make our speeds invalid. If GNSS is utilized with the accuracy being greater than the clocks, we would save the $5000 plus the $12,000 FIA fee. For a regular Joe, that is important. For the deep pockets guys I guess it doesn't matter.