Duramax-powered diesel dragster « Banks Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Duramax-powered diesel dragster’

The Snake on the Wall

by Doug Stokes

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

There it was, all 19 (and change) feet of gleaming black carbon fiber: the Banks Top Diesel Sidewinder main body, floating there in space, 6 feet high with that really “speed hungry” looking snake on the side that seems spitting out a warning to watch out for some Duramax diesel-powered drag racing speed in the very near future.

The rail on the wall with the new Banks Marine Diesel Engine in the foreground

When you have a 276-in wheelbase Top Diesel Dragster sitting in the middle of a race shop, even one as “roomy” as the Banks shop, it sort of dominates the scene a little. And of course, most of the time that race cars are in the shop, they have their outer skins off so the engineers, designers, and technicians can get at them, doing the endless tasks that are part and parcel of the building and constant grooming of modern race cars.

It’s often said that the best racing machines are only ever fully assembled just an hour or so before the race that they’re in. That’s quite true, and the new Banks Top Dragster is no exception to that rule. As an example, even though this trans-200 mile-per-hour in the quarter mile machine is still under construction, the one-piece main bodywork has been off and on at least twenty times since it got here. Until today, each time it was carefully lifted off the chassis and then laid down on the floor near the chassis.

Everyone in the shop was, of course, quite careful to sidestep the (very) expensive piece of carbon fiber sitting there on the floor and no one, but no one rested any tools, coffee cups, or even a comic book on the long flat surface that made up most of its near 20-foot length. After a while that got a little old.

And then someone, some bright visionary, who’s name is lost to memory right now said, “Why don’t we make some brackets and hang that thing on that nice clear wall over there, it’ll be out of our way and look great at the same time!”

Whoever said that … Thank You!

And that big thank you is because the race shop now has a wonderful “wall hanging”, and that very valuable piece of carbon fiber coachwork with that big old sidewinder on it is now well and truly out of harm’s way.

Of course the best part of it being so prominently displayed is that it just reminds everyone of the task at hand: putting Banks into the lead on the racetrack, on the sales floor, and in the hearts of our many fans and customers.

Tags: Banks Race Shop, Duramax-powered diesel dragster
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Banks Sidewinder Diesel Dragster Arrives

by Doug Stokes

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Mark down this date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008.

At precisely 8 a.m. the new Banks Sidewinder Duramax-powered diesel dragster stopped being a great idea, a few photos, some artist conceptions, a big stack of PO’s, a bunch of invoices, about a hundred faxes and an equal number of phone calls back and forth to Greenfield, Ind., and actually became a tangible object, a real, honest-to-goodness racing car, all 31.5 feet of it. The 276 inches of that ultra-loooooong wheelbase, swathed in a sleek, all-carbon-fiber body, now sits smack dab in the middle of the Banks Power race shop in Azusa, Calif.

The real thing coming out of its seemingly block-long crate and getting its first taste of the warm California sun made it seem almost as though, with a set of tires and a few decals, the digger would be ready to race.

Crated diesel dragster arrives on June 17, 2008

Just about everyone in the Banks offices on the race shop side of the street was outside to greet the new arrival, many of them noting that it had been what seemed like a long time since Gale Banks was back at his friend Mike Spitzer’s shop in central Indiana putting in his order for this very special chassis.

Diesel dragster unwrapped

Of course, months of prepping this machine are required before it can do battle in the quarter-mile. Today, it’s all pointing and looking. Look at this! Oh cool! Whoa! We all knew exactly what was specified, but seeing the chassis finally here in the shop, sitting on some quickly commandeered little roll-around “wheelies,” really is cool for everyone on the extended “team.” Today is “Christmas in June” for the engineers, engine builders, and technicians who will start with this basic chassis and transform it into a full-out Banks Sidewinder competition car replete with all of the innovations and forward-thinking diesel technology that name portends.

Banks race shop engineers are ready to roll

The Banks Power performance goals for this machine have been long stated: 200 miles an hour in the quarter-mile and doing that 2 bills in the 6-second elapsed-time range. Ahead are a few miles and more than a few late nights and early mornings, but the dragster project is finally steel, rubber, carbon fiber, and Diesel 2 rather than a colorful artist’s conception on some computer.

Day One … one great day!