I'm not surprised. It's early in the season, Arkansas is a long pull for a lot of folks, the entry fees are very high, and Mr. Cates has rubbed a few of the big names on the KCBS circuit the wrong way.
Still, don't forget a lot of teams wait to send in their applications at the last minute, so you'll probably see that number rise a good deal.
I'm planning to hitch a ride with another team as dish washer to check out the Megashow for myself, though the distance and cost was too great for my own team to sign up.