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Feature

Tougher Than Dirt Tour Returns for 10th Annual Run Through North Dakota and Saskatchewan

By Ben Deatherage VINTON, Iowa (May 27, 2025) — The 2025 edition of the Tougher Than Dirt Tour is set to launch into its 10th season with six straight nights of high-powered IMCA racing, spotlighting the Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods and the Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks. The tour kicks off Monday, June 3 and runs through Sunday, June 8, offering some of the most competitive racing for these divisions in the Northern Plains. The action begins at McLean County Speedway in Underwood, North Dakota on June 3, followed by a stop at Southwest Speedway in Dickinson on June 4. Williston Basin Speedway hosts round three on June 5, with the lone Canadian date coming at Estevan Motor Speedway in Saskatchewan on June 6. Thunder Mountain Speedway in Bottineau welcomes racers on June 7, before the finale on Sunday, June 8 at the historic Nodak Speedway in Minot. “I’m really looking forward to this week because it’s a great series of races for the local racers around these parts while also attracting some drivers from out [Read More]

Northern SportMod

North Dakota driver Deschamp soars to new heights 

BOTTINEAU, N.D. – His fascination with buttons and gauges and all things mechanical first took Gabriel Deschamp to the dirt track. Then it took him to the skies. The 19-year-old from Bottineau got his private pilot’s license this summer and has already begun studies toward a degree in commercial aviation at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. He’ll drive, or maybe fly, home on the weekends to continue quests for Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod track titles at hometown Thunder Mountain Speedway and at Nodak Speedway in Minot. “Ever since I was younger, I liked buttons and gauges, and race cars and planes both have a lot of them,” explained Deschamp. “It’s just something I’ve always been interested in, and one of the things I like best about flying is the freedom. You can get to other places quickly and easily. And it’s pretty cool when you’re in control of where you’re going.” He’d built and flown his own balsa wood radio controlled planes before following his grandfather and father Beau – now [Read More]