OP: I used to have a Honda CRV and I didn't have to remove the front wheel to haul my bike. I put the back seats down and chunked the bike on its side into the cargo area.

I kept a flattened cardboard bike box (free from the LBS) to protect the back of the car seats and cargo area carpeting; and to provide a smooth slide without the pedals snagging on something.
I kept a pool noodle in the Honda to cushion the bike and handlebars from road bumps.
If needed I could stack 2 bikes with the cardboard between the bikes to avoid scratches and entanglement.
It doesn't take much time to deal with the wheel, but it was also easier and faster to get the intact bike in and out of the car.

Back to QR skewers: You get extra style points if the levers point up aligned to the fork.

Sometimes we take the front wheels off a whole herd of bikes. It is also a good thing to know how to do if you have to fix a flat tire

Four touring bikes.

I go aero with mine. While wearing earbuds, baggy shorts and occasionally vintage sans helmet.

Looks like I am, as usual, wrong, but it sure makes for good press if you are a Campag aficionado. Of which I am not, I can't even afford to visit their website, out of fear it will charge my credit card an exorbitant amount.

Practice at home before you go on the road,and have someone with experience with QR's have a look to seeo if you have done it correctly.
You really don't want to lose the front wheel when riding.
And FWIW, a bike rack makes thing easier and quicker. A hitch or trunk mount means you don't have to lift the bike on to the roof of your car.

[

I was taught to set the levers directed straight back to avoid snagging stuff.
Others choose to make them parallel to the tubes, or in the rear triangle.

However, do not direct the levers forward or downward. I suppose it would be rare to snag the levers on a road hazard, but you don't want them opening unexpectedly.[/QUOTE]
Always,.
Cheers,
David in Alaska

old school thinking .. in tight racing the possible worry is overlapping wheels and the rear QR lever being opened by the front wheel of the guy behind.

But overlapping wheels usually means both riders will crash anyhow.. you see that happen in the Pros.

The front one can face backwards and maybe wrap around the fork blade.