To many Americans, diesel is the powerplant of plodding garbage trucks or the terrible 1980s GM car Uncle Earl owned. It’s an impression heavily seasoned with the words “noisy,” “smelly” and “dirty.”

Sure, Audi has used diesel power to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans the last few years, and parent company Volkswagen has joined BMW and Mercedes-Benz in bringing 50-state, clean-diesel passenger cars back to the U.S. The cars are quiet, clean, and you’ll be hard pressed to smell even a whiff of exhaust. But what about speed?

Banks Engineering's diesel drag truck set a new record Sunday, 180.00 @ 7.7708 seconds in the quarter mile.

In terms of brute-force, drag strip-acceleration, Gale Banks’ Sidewinder S-10 answered that question loud and clear last Sunday in Arizona. Driver Wes Anderson ran a 7.7708 with a trap speed of 180 mph over the quarter mile, fastest the meet and a record for diesel drag trucks.

Banks Engineering, like many aftermarket parts makers, uses its racing program as a testbed for new products. In this case, it was the electronic control unit used to maximize performance from a 6.6-liter, twin-turbocharged Duramax V-8. Banks’ marine engine products will see the first implentation of the new ECU.

Nitrous oxide cools the Sidewinder’s intake charge instead of an intercooler. The company developed its own nitrous control and delivery system. That’s one part of the program that won’t make it to street-driven vehicles, but holds possibilities for application in other race vehicles.