Lightning Racer

Lighting Racer is a wooden roller coaster,  located at Hersheypark  in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Built by Great Coasters International  in 2000, it was the first wooden racing  and dueling roller coaster.

Ride experience
The ride makes use of GCI's Millennium Flyer articulated trains for a smooth and comfortable ride. During the ride's first two years in operation, the park played recordings for the winning train, which sometimes included local celebrity voices.

While fans of the ride may have a particular side (Thunder/Green, or Lightning/Red) they enjoy more, both sides travel through the same elements, although at different times. However, the Lightning (red) train consistently wins most of the races

. Speed is affected not only by weight on the train, but by weather conditions (rain, temperature) and maintenance. Also, the lifts' speeds can be slightly different.

Guests noticed that during the 2010 and early 2011 seasons that the Thunder trains began to win most of the races.

Like most GCI coasters, both sides of the Lightning Racer's first drops curve as a way to decrease the chances of nausea, and both coasters contain an on-ride camera, located in the tunnel midway through the ride.



The only tie in recorded history occurred when the Lightning train stopped at the top of the lift hill while the Thunder train began to descend the ride's first drop. The Lightning train continued moments later, and as a result, the trains tied at the finish line. This occurred during a test run with no passengers on board either train. It is believed that if the Lightning train did not stall than it would have won the race with the Thunder train noticeably behind.

In October, when Hersheypark is decorated in a Halloween theme (Hersheypark in the Dark), Thunder and Lightning are renamed Mischief and Mayhem, respectively. The ride is also dubbed "Wicked Racer" for the occasion.