This year is shaping up to be a good one for the Unlimited class at the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. Drivers have been aspiring to break into the 9-minute mark for decades now but it seems like this year may be the year we’ll actually witness it.

Paul Dallenbach campaigned in the Unlimited class last year, with is custom racer sporting 745-hp and 650 ft-lbs of torque. But he wasn’t satisfied and knew he needed a much more potent engine program to compete with the likes of Rhys Millen and Nobuhiro Tajima in hitting the 9-minute mark.

So what did Dallenbach do? They turned to Banks Power and by combining their great minds, a twin-turbocharged effort was spawned which throws down an astonishing 1,307-hp with 1,206 ft-lbs of torque. Now if that doesn’t help Dallenbach power up Pikes Peak, we’re not sure what will.

Now obviously with all that extra power available, he had to do some shakedown runs to get used to the car. And thankfully they were there with video cameras to record it for the world to see.

Will this year finally be the year we’ll see a 9-minute pass up Pikes Peak? We’re keeping our fingers crossed. Check out a video of how fast this bad boy is after the break.

[Source: BanksPower]

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This past weekend Banks Power set yet another world record for diesel-powered drag racers by running a 7.7708 second pass at 180.00 mph in the Banks Sidewinder S-10.

The Banks Sidewinder is the first ever diesel pickup truck to hit the 180 mph mark in the quarter-mile, a feat which took place at the NHRDA Desert Diesel Nationals at the Speedworld Dragstrip in Wittman, Arizona with Wes Anderson behind the wheel.

Powered by a twin-turbo 6.6-liter GM Duramax V8 engine, the Banks Sidewinder uses a Nitrous Oxide system in place of an intercooling setup, which is controlled by a proprietary Banks controller to ensure the flow of Nitrous to the engine is as efficient as possible and the combustion temperatures are ideal.

Banks also designed a specific ECU for the Sidewinder, which will be adapted for use in the company’s Marine Engines. Several other technologies and techniques used on the record setting pickup will be put in place in Banks’ Top Diesel Dragster soon.