Allow me to give my opinion as a newbie.
I was present for Reijo's school last Friday and my son and I both attended the Saturday event.
We originally built a Spec Miata to get the "street racing" mentality out of our 2 younger boys.
We were almost done the build when my youngest attended a small show n shine and saw a tech sticker and ask the guy about it. This was the first either of us ever heard of Autocross. We did some research on it and came to the conclusion this was an absolute perfect platform to get the "street racing " out of our boys.
My youngest absolutely loved his first event on Saturday as Reijo, Tom and a bunch of the regulars sort of took him under their wing to help him understand the sport more(much appreciated).
I do agree it is all about exposure/advertising,(show n shines, mechanic shop advertising...) and my thought as a father a 2 boys heavily involved in cars and as an ex oval racer that autocross is a fantastic platform to keep our kids off the streets and in a more controlled environment for the safety of everyone.
Not to mention the driving skills they can learn.
I bring up and promote Autocross whenever I'm around my old oval buddies as they have similar concerns with their kids and road racing.
Sorry for the long rant, but as I stated its all about getting it out there as not too many people even know what autocross is, but I'am extremely glad my family is now involved, just wish we had heard of it earlier.