That may be true in the UK but 1-ply is pretty much standard issue in rest stops and gas stations in the US. It was also on some store shelves during the toilet paper shortage we had a few years ago.
It was a big problem. CART and the IRL merged in 2008 to form Indycar. Roger Penske bought Indycar and the Indianapolis Speedway in November 2019. I’m unsure if they have an attendance problem on raceday. If so maybe the pandemic has had something to do with it? And yes, blackouts are surely all about the money.
To quote Tom Jackson, “It’s all over, fat man. It’s all over.”