Banks Sidewinder Dakota

This is the truck that shattered existing speed records – and people’s perception of diesel performance. Cummins diesel-powered Project Sidewinder set five land-speed records and became the World’s Fastest Pickup Truck.

Surpassing Gale Banks’ personal goal of 210 mph, the Banks Sidewinder smashed the world 159.647-mph record with an average speed of 217.314 mph, making Sidewinder the World’s Fastest Diesel Pickup! Amazing Overall Top Speed: 222.139 mph!

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.

Built entirely in Banks’ race shop, this 735 hp, 1300 lb-ft 5.9L Cummins-powered Dakota is street driven and averages 21.2 mpg on the Hot Rod Power Tour. The Banks Sidewinder® Dakota is the official F.I.A. World’s Fastest Diesel Truck @ 217 mph (two-way average) and a best one-way of 222 mph. It also towed its own support trailer to the salt!

Project Photo Gallery

dakota_arriving
Banks Sidewinder Dakota on the salt
Dakota Speedrun
Smooth Sailing
The Team
Engine Dyno
dakota_underhood
Dakota Suspension
Dakota in traffic
Dakota Silhouette
PlayPause
Exit full screenEnter Full screen
previous arrow
next arrow
 
dakota_arriving
Banks Sidewinder Dakota on the salt
Dakota Speedrun
Smooth Sailing
The Team
Engine Dyno
dakota_underhood
Dakota Suspension
Dakota in traffic
Dakota Silhouette
previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Latest News

Racing History Opens Eyes to Diff Cover

Racing History Opens Eyes to Diff Cover
Patrick Blakeley discovered Banks when he was researching land speed record vehicles.
Read more

Duramax goes full tilt with Banks PowerPack

Duramax goes full tilt with Banks PowerPack
Jay Lamb has been a fan for decades, but only recently was able to upgrade his truck with performance parts from Banks.
Read more

Helping Racers Go For 200 MPH

Helping Racers Go For 200 MPH
Banks has a storied history at the Bonneville Salt Flats, having been directly responsible for setting scores of records in dozens of classes.
Read more

The Record-Breaking Banks Sidewinder Dakota

The Record-Breaking Banks Sidewinder Dakota
In 1999, Banks and Cummins set out to break the land speed record for diesel trucks at the Bonneville Salt Flats with the Dakota Sidewinder.
Read more

This Snake Bites at 222 MPH!

This Snake Bites at 222 MPH!
Back in April 2005 History Channel’s AutoManiacs did a complete episode on performance pickup trucks. One of the segments focused on the Banks Sidewinder Dakota, a remarkable clean-running performance vehicle. In 2002 the Cummins Engine Company, Robert Bosch Corporation, Holset Turbochargers, and New Venture Gear participated with Banks in Project Sidewinder.  https://youtu.be/E9eB4ilu_xQ The Banks Sidewinder diesel-powered Dakota ...
Read more

When it Comes to Racers…We Roll Our Own!

When it Comes to Racers...We Roll Our Own!
A friend asked for a race car sponsorship recently, but we usually don’t do that. When it comes to race cars, trucks or boats…it’s more fun to build and race our own! And, that way, if we do it wrong, win a race or set a record, it’s our own doing. When it comes to fuel, ...
Read more

Banks Sidewinder Blower Test Series

Banks Sidewinder Blower Test Series
At Banks Power we develop engines for uses ranging from winning wars (military) to winning races. We have done this, including the military part, since 1975. In those 40 years we have advanced our art and been on the winning team in building and powering all types of cars, trucks and boats, all over the planet. Since 1965, ...
Read more

This truck eats Corvettes for breakfast

This truck eats Corvettes for breakfast
Hey guys, here’s a video of the Banks Sidewinder Dakota blowing off a C6 Corvette in a street race over in Vegas. There turned out to be a cop behind them…no ticket, he just wanted a look under the hood. Remember, the Dakota is geared for 222 mph at Bonneville! Beat a Corvette with a Cummins, I ...
Read more

Worlds Fastest Pickup Truck

Worlds Fastest Pickup Truck
I just had a flash, we’ve held Worlds Fastest Diesel Pickup record at 222 mph for almost 15 years. Where’s the competition, the Banks Dakota Sidewinder is resting in the NHRA Motorsports Museum and it’s jonesing for a go! It pulls a trailer too, ya know! Gale Banks
Read more

Diesel Swaps

Diesel Swaps
The Banks Rat Rod gets a Duramax, the Sidewinder Dakota gets a Cummins, and a who-knows-what gets an 866T.
Read more

“Banks Power – The first 50 years” Opens at Wally Parks NHRA Museum

"Banks Power - The first 50 years" Opens at Wally Parks NHRA Museum
50 years of automotive and marine engineering innovation was put on display at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum to honor Gale Banks and his achievements.
Read more

“BANKS POWER – THE FIRST 50 YEARS” OPENS AT WALLY PARKS NHRA MUSEUM – POMONA, CA

"BANKS POWER – THE FIRST 50 YEARS" OPENS AT WALLY PARKS NHRA MUSEUM - POMONA, CA
Pomona, California – – On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, fifty years of automotive and marine engineering innovation was put on display at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WoRjPCMC6k Pomona, California – – On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, fifty years of automotive and marine engineering innovation was put on display at the Wally Parks ...
Read more

No smoke with fire

No smoke with fire
Smoke free, high efficiency diesel engines are Gale Banks Engineering’s specialty. We look at how the company progressed to become the undisputed leaders in the field.
Read more

One-On-One With Gale Banks

One-On-One With Gale Banks
Straight Talk With the Man Largely Identified as the Creator of the Diesel Aftermarket
Read more

Power Broker

Power Broker
Here’s a guy who’s done it all and done it well, and he has the records to prove it.
Read more

Drivelines Chatter: Gale Banks, Gale Banks Engineering

Drivelines Chatter: Gale Banks, Gale Banks Engineering
Gale Banks knows how to make power, whether he’s land-speed racing or improving the performance of an anemic motorhome.
Read more

Engine Builder Does It Diesel

Engine Builder Does It Diesel
Could performance cars like Corvettes and Mustangs and others be powered by diesel engines in the future? They not only could be, but they would be if Gale Banks had his way.
Read more

Diesel Power

Diesel Power
For Decades, Fringe Hot Rodders Have Been Predicting a High-Performance Diesel Revolution.
Read more

23.6 MPG from a Truck that Runs 222 MPH!

23.6 MPG from a Truck that Runs 222 MPH!
OK, you haven’t heard from me in a while and I’m going to use the same excuse as everyone else; Power Tour, blah, blah, blah. But since I am doing so, I would like to continue my theme on fuel economy with a report from the Power Tour. As you know, we took five vehicles ...
Read more

Air Travel Hell: Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour (Pre-Tour)

Air Travel Hell: Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour (Pre-Tour)
4:44 a.m. Okay, the trip stared off badly when the shuttle van that was supposed to pick me up at 4:00 a.m. hadn’t arrived by 4:30. When I called, they told me, “oh, our driver just now told us he was experiencing vehicle trouble…” Great. What about my ride to the airport? The shuttle company called a ...
Read more

A Trip To The Toy Shop

A Trip To The Toy Shop
One of the things that I like doing sometime during the workweek is to wander through the Banks Race Shop. It is really an amazing place. I can’t think of any other place in the world where I could find high-flow intake manifolds for diesel engines being developed, turbochargers being mounted on a V-12 tank ...
Read more

Banks Readies for 2004 Bonneville

Banks Readies for 2004 Bonneville
The Banks Race Shop makes preparations to break its own diesel truck land speed record at Bonneville
Read more

Engineering: Banks Runs for the Records

Engineering: Banks Runs for the Records
Project Sidewinder’s goal is to break the Land Speed Record for any pickup, any class, gas or diesel…
Read more

Banks At Bonneville

Banks At Bonneville
The dramatic story behind the creation of the Banks Sidewinder and its record-shattering run at Bonneville
Read more

Sideways Into the Record Book

Sideways Into the Record Book
Banks sets new world speed record with the Sidewinder diesel pickup…
Read more

Gale Banks Engineering

Gale Banks Engineering
Winning Systems for Trucks, SUVs & Motor Homes
Read more

Flat Out on the Salt

Flat Out on the Salt
Inside Gale Banks’ 200-MPH Dakota Land-Speed Record Holder
Read more

Banks Sidewinder Rattles Bonneville

Banks Sidewinder Rattles Bonneville
Project Sidewinder’s goal is to break the Land Speed Record for any pickup, any class, gas or diesel…
Read more

Holy Smokeless!

Holy Smokeless!
Here’s one for the run-whatcha-brung record books. And we do mean record books. Last October 17, with the Bonneville Nationals World Finals already well underway at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, the crew from Gale Banks Engineering pulled in after driving all night from their headquarters in Azusa, Calif. They unhitched the trailer from their Dodge ...
Read more

Banks Sidewinder: The World’s Fastest Pickup!

Banks Sidewinder: The World's Fastest Pickup!
Gale Banks Engineering’s Project Sidewinder is the fastest pickup truck on the planet. And it’s a diesel!
Read more

See Sidewinder Run

See Sidewinder Run
Seems like hardly a week goes by that we don’t have something new to tell you about Project Sidewinder. This one will be short. The news is that we had a video crew at Bonneville to capture all the action and sounds surrounding our record attempts, and you can now sample it on our Sidewinder web ...
Read more

Banking on Power of Diesel

Banking on Power of Diesel
Gale Banks’ goal is to push his diesel-powered Dodge Dakota to speeds up to 210 mph at the World Finals at Bonneville Flats in October. AZUSA — Gale Banks hopes that in five weeks, he’ll be driving the fastest sport pick-up truck in the world to work daily. Banks is president of Banks Engineering, an after-market company ...
Read more

Diesel Land Speed Record — Goal of Project Sidewinder

Diesel Land Speed Record — Goal of Project Sidewinder
210+ mph in Dodge Dakota … illustrating diesel as a performance engine … 600 hp out of 5.9L
Read more

Why Diesels Make So Much Torque

Why Diesels Make So Much Torque
For those used to gasoline engine torque numbers, diesel torque verges on the unbelievable. Most competitors at Bonneville aren’t street legal, and most arrive on a trailer. Project Sidewinder drove in pulling a trailer! The Banks Project Sidewinder, a Dodge Dakota pickup fitted with a modified Cummins 5.9L (359-cubic-inch) in-line six-cylinder diesel, made 1300 lb.-ft. of ...
Read more