Despite all the rumor mongering, here's I believe is really going on from talking to people with skin in this game. Track ownership has just pumped something like one hundred trillion dollars (slight exaggeration) into that racing surface to get it billiard-smooth for F1. It was a huge undertaking. I know a bunch of folk in the construction biz down that way and getting that track surface right was an undertaking that was not lightly compared to a moon shot. Ownership was and is concerned with not getting their nice new track torn up by rank amateurs, so they are going to limit use for at least this year to "established" club racing and team rentals. For example, Ferrari's Corse Clienti was out there a couple weeks ago and the Corvette ALMS team was there last week. It looks like SCCA is getting their club date and PCA and BMWCCA are likely to get to keep their dates too. What is getting bounced is the run-of-the-mill HPDE because track ownership was concerned about an inexperienced driver going coming out there in his (name your passenger sedan that also gets used for HPDE's) with little to no track experience and wadding it up and taking out a very expensive hunk of track and ARMCO with it.
I dunno if I agree or disagree with track management in terms of their evaluation of the risk that comes with the HPDE crowd, but it's their hundreds of millions of dollars invested; IMHO, they certainly have the right to limit their exposure while maximizing return on their very substantial investment.
Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67
Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.