The Racer

Kings Island opened on April 29, 1972, replacing Cincinnati's Coney Island after that park had endured periodic flooding during its 85-year existence on the Ohio River. Its signature attraction was The Racer, an 88-foot-high twin-tracked wooden roller coaster inspired by the Coney Island Shooting Star, engineered by John C. Allen and built by James L. Martz of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The two tracks totaled 6,830 feet, with an initial drop of 82 feet, 2 inches, and the ride was constructed by park contractors at a cost of $1.8 million; modified versions were later built at two other parks. Considered an important part of the roller coaster renaissance of the 1970s, it also hosted several world record riding attempts and became widely remembered from a television episode of The Brady Bunch. On May 28, 1962, it became the first racing coaster to run trains backwards on one of its tracks, and it remains an integral part of Kings Island's collection of roller coasters.

Mason, Ohio · United States