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Most road races, at least at the amateur level here in California, are loops with laps of varrying length. If the loops are too short then it's a circuit race instead of a road race. 10-20 miles seems to be a fairly common road race loop size, which also allows the organizers to have different length races for different categories by changing the number of laps.

I did one point-to-point race from Baker to Death Valley (twice) that was interesting, logistically, because you ended 80 miles from where you started and all categories did the same distance. They have since changed it to an out-and-back and I have not done that version. There is another point-to-point road race called Pine Flat, near Fresno. That's another race where all cats run the same distance, around 70 miles IIRC. It is point-to-point because the finish is not at the start, but it is very nearby. Maybe about 10 miles, so it's a nice cooldown to ride back to the car. In my case I stayed in a hotel about a mile before the start. That is a Velo Promo race, they do a lot of road races in NorCal. Races like Orosi, Copperopolis, Cantua Creek, San Ardo, University, Patterson Pass, Dunnigan Hills, Snelling, etc...

In SoCal there are a few road races but it is mostly critland. In 2009, there was Poor College Kids, Boulevard, Devil's Punchbowl, San Luis Rey, Bakersfield, Sisquoc, and San Luis Obispo. Also as part of stage races like San Dimas and Ventura. There are probably others but those are what I remember.

Velo Promo has the whole road race thing pretty well figured out. Mostly on roads without much traffic or many opportunities to make a wrong turn. Not too many marshalls required.

Edit: looking at my tentative 2010 racing schedule, I have 5 crits, 9 road races, and 5 stage races. The stage races have between them 4 crits, 4 TTs, and 8 road race stages. In total, that makes for 9 crits, 17 road races, and 4 TTs.