Pete (a former TBL contestant) has a blog - and recently he has discussed the casting process - here is
his first entry on the subject - I thought perhaps you would be interested in his description of what the applicants would experience to better plan your time (hit the standing in line time, but know to be wary of the production assistants who might give you the boot, that sort of thing)
Car flyers might be a simple, no contact way to get the word out there - different than walking the line just handing out paper.