As was already said, all the special events do require some dedication to the game, you can't win if you do not use most of your tickets, especially last two days. You can pay your way out a bit, but one or two sessions a day is definitely not enough. Thats the way it works. The good thing about last couple of events is that a start of the event can be chosen in an interval of several days, while before that it always ended during the weekend. While it probably suits the most players, some of us have sometimes more free time during working days.
The other reason why special events can be very rewarding for a newcomer is that the outcome is similar for all players, and this may be a top car in your garage, if you have just started, which can significantly speed up your progress in the campaign. So the effort needed here pays off well.