CliffordK you should get out and do this race. You are right, the course is very not technical and is very wide. It does seem to be a pretty safe race, but crashes do occur sometimes. Being flat and non-technical you would think it could be a boring race, but it is almost always windy there on summer nights.
I was wondering about wind. The Columbia is noted for a bit of wind, at least further up. The riders in one of the videos above commented about hugging the sides of the track to cut the wind.
Unfortunately over the last year and a half I've started driving more and cycling less... so I'll have to work on getting back into shape, but this would be a good goal either this fall, or next year.
It looks like OBRA has a cycling insurance policy. It actually covers any time one is on the bike, so it may not be a bad idea.
https://industry.obra.org/obra-and-spot-insurance/