After
day and night thrashing to get ready, Project Sidewinder
rolled onto the Salt on October 17, not on a trailer,
but towing its own spare parts trailer, and promptly
exceeded the existing diesel pickup Land Speed Record
of 159.647 MPH on its first two qualifying runs – and
that was just the beginning.
Try
getting a pickup truck, with the aerodynamics of a
brick, to go 222 MPH with a diesel engine. Banks did,
and kept it street drivable too.
If
you’ve never extensively modified a vehicle for
performance, including a major engine and drivetrain
swap, construction of a safety/chassis roll cage, and
complete revision and replacement of the suspension,
then you can’t imagine the amount of work required.
Add a complete engine upgrade program, and all of the
special equipment required for a Land Speed Record
attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and the task
becomes monumental. It takes the resources and knowledge
of companies like Cummins Engine Company, New Venture
Gear, Wilwood Engineering, the Progress Group, and
of course, Gale Banks Engineering to create a vehicle
like the Project Sidewinder Dakota. Even so, after
a year of preparation, the vehicle wasn’t declared “race
ready” until midnight, Oct.16th, at the Banks
Race Shop in Azusa, California. The World Finals had
already begun earlier that same day at the Bonneville
Salt Flats in Utah, some 700 miles away.
In
decidedly non-racer-like fashion, the street-drivable
Sidewinder arrived on the salt early Thursday afternoon,
not on a trailer, but pulling its own spare parts trailer.
The crew simply replaced the street wheels and tires
with the racing wheels and tires to ready the world’s
first diesel sport truck for technical inspection and
its qualifying runs. The goal was for the Sidewinder
to become not only the world’s fastest diesel
pickup, surpassing the existing record of 159.647 MPH,
but to also set the Land Speed Record for the world’s
fastest pickup, gas or diesel, regardless of class.
That would require a two-way average over 205 MPH.
In 1990, Banks earned recognition with the Banks/GMC
Syclone non-turbocharged V-6 as the first pickup to
exceed 200 MPH and as the world’s fastest pickup
with a flying mile speed of 210.069 MPH in IMSA speed
trials, followed by runs at Bonneville, so this was
familiar territory.
Friday
dawned clear and cool – ideal weather conditions
and the salt was perfect. Driver licensing rules required
two runs with speeds between 150 to 200 MPH. Driver
Don Alexander cautiously made his first licensing run
at 172 MPH. Then, within the hour, Alexander made a
second run at 192 MPH. Together, that established an
average of 182.613 MPH for a new diesel pickup BNI
and FIA International Land Speed Record – not
bad for the first day – especially for a streetable
truck that drove in off the highway pulling a trailer!
Saturday
was another perfect day on the salt. After reviewing
the Sidewinder’s on-board data acquisition information
from Friday, tuning adjustments were made for additional
qualifying runs. In this racing tune, the Cummins 5.9L
turbo-diesel was producing over 1300 ft.-lb. of torque.
On the first two qualifying runs on the 7-mile FIA
course, Alexander went 216.034 MPH and returned at
218.593 MPH to improve the FIA and BNI International
record to 217.314 MPH. On the third qualifying run
on the BNI National 5-mile course, the official timing
clocks malfunctioned, although they did record an exit
speed at the end of the course of 220.422 MPH. The
clocks did work properly on the fourth qualifying run,
recording a measured mile at 217.212 MPH and an exit
speed of 222.139 MPH!
Sunday
morning, the Banks crew prepared the Sidewinder for
yet another run. Part way through that run, the engine’s
massive torque overwhelmed the rearend ring and pinion
gear set, actually twisting off the pinion gear part
way through the run. Even with the gear failure, the
Cummins-powered Dakota still coasted through for a
209 MPH clocking. When averaged with the 217 MPH speed
from Saturday, another BNI National Land Speed Record
of 213.583 MPH was set. These records, which are detailed
below, established the Sidewinder as both the World’s
Fastest Diesel Pickup and the World’s Fastest
Pickup!
Banks
and Cummins aren’t through yet. Project Sidewinder
will be tested on the drag strip, on road race courses,
and on the toughest test track of all, the street.
The Sidewinder is well on its way to redefining the
perception of diesels and diesel performance. It is
the world’s first, and fastest, diesel sport truck!
Check
out all the construction and preparation details in
this section. You’ll be amazed!
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