Frank and Bonnie Hill have faced numerous challenges during their tenure as co-promoters at Sunshine Speedway.
Obstacles to a successful track run the gamut, from fans stolen by NASCAR night races to fierce driver politics.
With the speedway's end in sight, a whopper of a task looms over the Hills - holding the track together until it closes its doors for good in November.
Pressed with unrelenting rain, waning business and some driver discontent, the promoters have their work cut out for them.
The speedway had a rainout Saturday, the third wash in as many weeks. As for the steadily increasing number of empty seats in the grandstands, that's a trend faced by most local tracks, Frank Hill said.
"I'll tell anybody," Hill said, "right now the racing business is not a business to be in, unless you're in NASCAR. There are tracks closing all over Florida."
Attendance has declined the past few years, Hill said, due in large part to the rise of other entertainment in the Tampa Bay area, such as professional sports.
Ideas aimed at attracting more spectators - increased spectacle races and traveling series - have had relatively little effect.
"We still make money, but only because we own the facility," Hill said. "But it's getting harder, especially with all these rainouts. People will say, "Well, at least you're not losing any money (on the rainouts),' but we are.
"We give up a share of our insurance as soon as we let cars out onto the track," he said. "And then we have employees to pay. They don't all expect it, but some do, and I think it's only right to give it to them."
The buyout, a $20-million deal with the state Department of Transportation, was in the works since about April, Hill said. All parties were asked to sign confidentiality agreements.
"The state came out in 1983 saying it wanted the land as part of its long-term road plan," Hill recalled. "At that time, they said the time frame was three to five years. Now, here we are in 2004.
"Overall, it was pretty smooth. You hear horror stories about the state grabbing your land, taking it for not much money, but it was pretty easy. We let them know it was available, and they knew it wasn't getting any cheaper, so they did it."
With a staggering amount of history - some drivers and officials have frequented the speedway more than 35 years - tied to the 44-year-old track, Hill recognized the necessity of completing the season.
"It was important for me to negotiate to finish out the year," he said. "We have always felt that if (the state) bought in the racing season, we would negotiate to finish the season. Our main goal was to satisfy the racer.
"The dragstrip has actually negotiated for two more years, and the motocross track is negotiating for an extension," Hill said. "We didn't want to because, well, we're burned out."
Saturday's rain will force the monthly School Bus Figure 8 event, already held back from July, into cancellation. The division's race this month is scheduled for Aug.21.
The Corteco Gaskets Gulfcoast Modified Series 50-lap event, originally planned for July 29, will be this Saturday. And the previously postponed Quaker Steak and Lube Enduro Championship, a 50-lap competition, does not have a new date.
"I feel bad for all these people that have been here for three weeks and gotten rained on," Hill said. "They call up and we say, "Yeah, we're racing,' and they come. But before you know it, clouds seem to form right over us, and it starts to rain.
"We haven't dried out in three weeks. That field, out by where the people park, that looks really green. If you drive into it, it's all mud.
