I think they will stay with it once the crowd witnesses the competition, and sees that it is just as exciting! By saying it's temporary, it takes some of the "sting" out of the decision.
I found 1/8th mile, and the 1/5 mile midwestern tracks to be great racing, so I don't put as much importance on track length, as most.
In the end, the major performance limiting factors are how much horsepower the tires can apply to the track, and the length of the track. Any lother limits may eventually be overcome, as we have seen with weight, blower speed, ignition timing and fuel percentages that did not slow the cars down for very long.