Racer 75 is a

wooden Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

racing roller coaster A dual-tracked roller coaster is a roller coaster that consists of two tracks. They can be configured as racing, dueling, or Möbius loop roller coasters. Some dual-track coasters operate only one track side at a time, including Rolling Thunde ...

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and att ...

Doswell, Virginia Doswell is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Hanover County, Virginia, Hanover County in the Central Region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on t ...

. Designed by John C. Allen, the ride opened with the park in 1975 as Rebel Yell. It features a similar track layout to The Racer (1972) at

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expa ...

and the now-defunct Thunder Road at Carowinds (1976). In 2018, Rebel Yell was renamed Racer 75, dropping its

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

theme to represent its racing layout and opening year, as well as a subtle nod to the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) organization that was founded in 1978.

History

Racer 75 opened as Rebel Yell with

's grand opening in 1975. The original name paid homage to the battle cry used by

Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Shortly after its debut, the

was prominently featured in the 1977 film ''

Rollercoaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

''. In 1992, the trains on one side were changed to face and run backwards, which was a similar change made on Kings Island's The Racer a decade earlier in 1982. Locals would call this reversed version of the ride the “Yell Rebel”. Both were restored to their original configurations in 2008, not long after

Cedar Fair Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included- ...

purchased the chain of parks from Paramount. For the park's 40th anniversary in 2014, the trains were repainted red or blue to represent their original color scheme and chasing lights were added back to the water park side of the track. The

theme was dropped in 2018 when it was renamed Racer 75. The new name was labeled an amalgam that mixes references to the coaster's racing configuration, the year it opened and the ACE acronym for American Coaster Enthusiasts – a club organization that traces its founding back to a 1977 riding event at the park involving Rebel Yell. While the park didn't acknowledge the reason, the name change coincided with rumblings in the state legislature surrounding the removal of Confederate statuary icons throughout Virginia.

Design

Racer 75 features a

layout with two individual tracks that are mirror images of one another. Its design was inspired by the Racer at sister park

, which opened three years earlier in 1972. The primary difference between the two, is that the tracks on the original Racer split at the fourth hill on the outbound journey, whereas the tracks on Racer 75 do not split until the trains begin the turnaround. Racer 75's design was also utilized in the construction of defunct Thunder Road at Carowinds in 1976, which featured the greatest height and speed of the three until its permanent closure in 2015. The tracks ran parallel to Lake Charles, a large man-made lake on the northwest corner of Kings Dominion. Two-thirds of the lake was drained in the early 1990s during construction of

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...

. There is one red and one blue train on each side for a total of two trains on each side. When only running one train on each side, an effort is made to run a train of each color. Racer 75 received the

Coaster Landmark American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) is a non-profit organization focusing on the enjoyment, knowledge, and preservation of roller coasters as well as recognition of some as architectural and engineering landmarks. Dues-paying members receive the ...

award from ACE on June 20, 2003.ACE Coaster Landmark Awards
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References

External links

Official ''Racer 75'' page
{{ACE Coaster Landmarks Roller coasters in Virginia Roller coasters introduced in 1975 Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair

History

Design

See also

References

External links