My guess, 33 teams were told to pack it in after 2/3's of the season was over, they did. I'd be curious if fans were polled , how they would respond as well.
Flash won 11th place which meant an extra million so it may have been worth his while tom show but he gets the money either way so...
Personally, I don't hold any ill will towards any who did not attend. It was a kiss&hug fest for the Top 10 and the biggy sponsors night otherwise, so no harm done, imo.
The 'kiss & hug' fest is how I view the last ten races. I think it may have been DW that brought up the sponsorship issue, but why SHOULD they pay for a car for the full season when they don't get the advertisement?