Just a few examples of people using subs for the first race of the season:
Season 14, BLS_F1yer used VLR_BG as a sub at Florence
Season 16, WFO_Rainman used WFO_ICE as a sub at Terre Haute 2k11
Season 18, BLS_Jason used BLS_BW as a sub at East Bay
Season 18, JFR_4h used JFR_A2D as a sub at East Bay
Season 19, VLR_JW used VLR_Shock as a sub at Thunder Valley
So of all those examples, only ONE has been a VLR member, which throws out the VLR favoritism angle KKKarl is taking.