It's their job: Portales woman keeps races on track

Tonya Dixon, 24, supervises the operation of the Dixon Motocross track located 8 miles west of Portales. During much of the month, she works at Valley Electric in town. During the two weeks before races, such as the ones that will be held this Sunday, Dixon is continuously at the track.

What’s it like for you on race day?

We have two secretaries in the office and two secretaries in this little (scorekeepers) booth out here. I pretty much run in between them making sure everybody’s doing what they should be doing. Everyone races their motos, then there’s an intermission before they start racing again. During intermission, we have to water and get the track all prepped again.

How about the time before anyone arrives? Is it quiet?

It’s so quiet. I never had an i-Pod until this week. Now I wish I would’ve got one a couple of years ago. We have a couple of dogs that run around with me, but it’s just me mostly, and it’s very, very quiet.

What are your responsibilities leading up to a race?

Watering. Basically, it takes a long time to water. Cleaning the bathrooms. You have so many people come out, it’s like a park. You have to get the facilities all cleaned up and ready to go.

Are there other parts of the race course, aside from the dirt itself, you have to tend to?

We have sponsors, so I have to put all the sponsor banners up. We have to take them down when the races are over, because they’re in really nice shape. I put up about six every time, but there’s a whole lot more that are actually made to where they can stay outside.