Lightning Racer 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 ...

dueling 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 Thunder ...

Hersheypark Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about east of Harrisburg, and west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906 by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees of ...

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey. The community is lo ...

. Built by

Great Coasters International Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI or GCII) is a Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based roller coaster manufacturer which has created several award-winning rides since its formation in 1994. Starting in 2006 with Thunderbird at PowerPark in Finland, t ...

(GCI) and designed by Mike Boodley of GCI, the ride was completed in 2000 within the Midway America section of the park. Lightning Racer was GCI's second roller coaster at Hersheypark. Planning for what became Lightning Racer commenced in May 1999, and the ride opened to the general public on May 13, 2000. Lightning Racer cost $12.5 million to construct, and it consists of two tracks, which are both long. The ride's station was designed by Ralph E. Kaylor of

Lebanon, Pennsylvania Lebanon () is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,814 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in the central part of the Lebanon Valley, east of Harrisburg and west of Reading. ...

. Lightning Racer operates with four Millennium Flyer trains manufactured by GCI. Since 2001, Lightning Racer has consistently been voted one of the world's 25 best wooden roller coasters at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...

'' magazine.

History

Planning for what became Lightning Racer commenced in May 1999, when employees of

(GCI) started creating sketches for a

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also ...

. A groundbreaking ceremony for the ride occurred in July 1999. The next month,

Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company Hershey may refer to: People * Hershey (name), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname Places * Hershey, Nebraska, a village * Hershey, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, home to the chocolate company * Hershey, Cub ...

announced that

would be adding its eighth coaster, Lightning Racer. It would be the park's second roller coaster built by GCI, after the now-defunct

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

. After construction had started, GCI's engineers encountered some obstacles that had not been shown on the official topographic maps that Hersheypark had given them, including a fence and a Turkey Hill shop. Lightning Racer opened to the general public on May 13, 2000, three days after a media event for the coaster was hosted. When the ride opened, Hersheypark had the most roller coasters of any amusement park in Pennsylvania. Through an agreement with Hersheypark, ice cream brand Green's (a subsidiary of

Crowley Foods Crowley Foods (legal name Crowley Foods LLC) is an American dairy company formerly based in Binghamton, New York. It has been a subsidiary of HP Hood LLC since being purchased by the company in 2004, which is headquartered in Lynnfield, Massach ...

) promoted the ride by introducing an ice-cream flavor called Raspberry Blueberry Scream.

Characteristics

Lightning Racer cost $12.5 million to construct and was designed by Mike Boodley of GCI. The roller coaster required about of

southern yellow pine In ecology and forestry, yellow pine refers to a number of conifer species that tend to grow in similar plant communities and yield similar strong wood. In the Western United States, yellow pine refers to Jeffrey pine or ponderosa pine. In the ...

for its construction. It consists of two tracks (Thunder/Green and Lightning/Red), which are both long. A complete circuit on either track takes approximately two minutes and twenty seconds. The ride's lift hill is approximately tall. After the first drop, the ride reaches a top speed of . At several points in the layout, the tracks are as close as to each other. The trains pass by each other in opposite directions at a combined . The ride's station was designed by Ralph E. Kaylor of

, and is made of heavy timber and wood frame. The station features architectural details such as shingle roofs, ventilation shafts, and

cupolas In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

. Unlike in other racing coasters, there is a single queue line for both tracks, allowing guests to select which track they want to ride. In addition to providing a shaded queue area for guests, the station contains a shop where on-ride photos from the coaster are sold. Lightning Racer operates with four trains, which seat 24 riders per train. Trains were originally painted blue and white but have since been repainted red and green. The ride makes use of GCI's Millennium Flyer articulated trains. Both tracks travel through the same elements, although at different times. Speed is affected by factors such as riders' weight, temperature, and lubrication; even riders' clothing has been known to affect the ride's speed. There is a tunnel about halfway through the course on both tracks. Both sides contain an

on-ride camera An on-ride camera is a camera mounted alongside the track of a roller coaster, log flume or other thrill ride that automatically photographs all of the riders on each passing vehicle. They are often mounted at the most intense or fastest part of th ...

, located in the tunnel. In addition, when the ride opened, it passed next to a waterfall with a mist. Lightning Racer Picture

Critical reception

Steve Hendrix of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote that Lightning Racer "looks like something left behind by a flood, but the twin coasters race each other through the tangle with thrilling zippiness". Conversely, Jane Holahan of the ''

Lancaster New Era LNP Media Group owns and publishes '' LNP'', a daily newspaper based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and ''LancasterOnline'', its online affiliate with monthly readership of over one million. ''LNP'' traces its roots to ''The Lancaster Journal ...

'' wrote: "I liked to be terrified when I ride a roller coaster. The Lightning Racer simply didn't terrify me."

Awards

Lightning Racer is consistently voted among the top 25 wooden roller coasters by ''

s Golden Ticket Awards. The first such award was given in August 2001, when the ride was ranked as the 13th best wooden roller coaster in the world.

References

{{Hersheypark Hersheypark Roller coasters introduced in 2000