Racer at Kennywood
The other traina race that actually races

Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

Racer

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“The buzz bars allow for insane airtime.”

1900192519501975200020251927older than 436 of theother 445 coasters we cover
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
this thing was a piece of cake
What riders love
  • Seems like the only wooden racing coaster that I can count on to actually race nowadays.
  • Enjoyable, fun, fast-paced, old-style, wooden racing coaster!
  • Good air in the backseat and the fun of racing is always there.
  • The buzz bars allow for insane airtime.
  • Buzz bars are great and the back row actually contains multiple sharp pops of air.
  • The last airtime drop before the brakes was WILD on both sides.
  • The mobius feature really adds to the vintage experience.
  • That said, it's a pretty fantastic racing coaster with many dueling elements, decent airtime, and an interesting layout.
Racer Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Racer - Kennywood - Front Row (4K HD POV) - July 2023

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

Racer POV HD Kennywood 2017 Back Seat On-Ride Roller Coaster Racing Möbius Loop Woodie Pivothead

youtube.com › Front Seat Media

2022 Racer Wooden Roller Coaster On Ride 4K POV Kennywood

youtube.com › Theme Park POV

Racer Off Ride @ Kennywood

youtube.com › David Hahner

Racer - Review (Kennywood, Pittsburgh PA)

youtube.com › XscreamThrills

Kennywood Replacing More Than 500 Feet Of Track On The Racer

youtube.com › CBS Pittsburgh

Riding the Racer at Kennywood

youtube.com › datru82

Racer roller coaster at Kennywood

youtube.com › Adventures with John

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Kennywood

Sure it has a couple of airtime moments which is prominent in the back, but the rest of the ride feels like it does nothing.

Vinnie T

With its airtime hills and frequent dueling between the two trains, Racer definitely meets these requirements.

Theme Park James

The most surprising ride of the park, I was getting sustained ejector airtime on every drop and was rarely in my seat.

Jacob Bass

The buzz bars allow for insane airtime.

Mr. Roller Coasters

Otherwise, its just a bunch of forceless lateral turns taken relatively quickly and a few more weak ah drops leads into a slow climb into the brakes.

Aric The Kakapo

Racer doesn’t do a whole lot, but for a nearly 100-year old wooden coaster, it’s running really smoothly.

Nathan F

It’s also pretty smooth, in my opinion.

24/7 Rollercoasters

...grew up with Racer is a nice racing coaster with a unique mobius loop layout the racing aspect is fun as always and this is perfectly smooth for it’s age my only knock is that it’s Force less as crap

David F.

Not gonna lie this is actually pretty smooth for a wooden coaster...

@gavinking8761

Oh yeah, and one more thing, the thing rattles crazily basically on every high-g moment and on the crawl out the station.

Aric The Kakapo

But, I noticed over time it has been getting more rough and jerky.

@seiliaa

However I’m not going to be too harsh, as I understand this is a family ride and isn’t made for thrill seekers.

Coaster Kingdoms

This is more for families than anything.

chase yesenosky

Enjoyable, fun, fast-paced, old-style, wooden racing coaster!

24/7 Rollercoasters

They only run 2 trains on this, so it takes forever to get the line moving.

Coaster Kingdoms

This ride also has a bad capacity.

chase yesenosky

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

72 ftHeight
220 SteelCurtain 160 Phantom'sRevenge 95 Sky Rocket 72 Racer 70 Thunderbolt 43 Exterminator
50 ftFirst drop
228 Phantom'sRevenge 205 SteelCurtain 90 Thunderbolt 70 JackRabbit 50 Racer
40 mphTop speed
Phantom'sRevenge85 Steel Curtain75 Thunderbolt55 Sky Rocket50 Jack Rabbit45 Racer40 085 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

FunSmooth ride

Criticised for

Slowed by trims

I got more airtime on the drops (may be caused by tightness or looseness of seat belt but idk) and it just felt like a better and more exciting experience than the left side.

Aric The Kakapo, Captain Coaster review

Sure this ride is fun and all, but why the heck would you ever wait in such a long line for this?

Coaster Kingdoms, Captain Coaster review

Buzz bars are great and the back row actually contains multiple sharp pops of air.

Bryan Bonafede, Captain Coaster review

super fun for the racing element, even if the layout and forces aren’t anything crazy

Jamie Óchi, Captain Coaster review

With its airtime hills and frequent dueling between the two trains, Racer definitely meets these requirements.

Theme Park James, published review

Buzz bars are great and the back row actually contains multiple sharp pops of air.

Bryan Bonafede, Captain Coaster review

Photos

The Racer in 2022
zenm, CC BY 2.0
Racer at Kennywood
Chris Hagerman, CC BY-SA 3.0
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary), CC BY 2.5
Racer at Kennywood
The original uploader was WillMcC at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

1927Opened

A racing, designed by John A. Miller.

Golden Ticket Awards, top wood coaster: ranked in 18 polls, 2003 to 2026

44th2003, its first poll
33rd2022, its best placing
39th2026, most recent

Sources

History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, themeparkjames.co.uk, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: WillMcC (CC BY-SA 3.0), zenm (CC BY 2.0), Chris Hagerman (CC BY-SA 3.0), Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, (primary) (CC BY 2.5), The original uploader was WillMcC at English Wikipedia. (CC BY-SA 2.5). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: Mr. Roller Coasters, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Jamie Óchi, rider review on Captain Coaster: “unlike literally every other racing coaster i've been on,…”; Bryan Bonafede, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Seems like the only wooden racing coaster that I…”; 24/7 Rollercoasters, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Enjoyable, fun, fast-paced, old-style, wooden racing coaster!”; Scott Collins, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Good air in the backseat and the fun of…”; Jacob Bass, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The most surprising ride of the park, I was…”; Mr. Roller Coasters, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The buzz bars allow for insane airtime.”; Bryan Bonafede, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Buzz bars are great and the back row actually…”; Christian Ortiz, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The last airtime drop before the brakes was WILD…”; Vinnie T, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The racing aspect is pretty exciting, and the layout…”; Christian Ortiz, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The mobius feature really adds to the vintage experience.”; Jackie ODoyle, rider review on Captain Coaster: “That said, it's a pretty fantastic racing coaster with…”; 24/7 Rollercoasters, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Very fun ride, I mean, I have motion sickness…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: Front Seat Media's back row POV, Racer POV HD Kennywood 2017 Back Seat On-Ride Roller Coaster Racing Möbius Loop Woodie Pivothead (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.