Kings Island is working to smooth out this roller coaster’s ride with new tracks

A Kings Island roller coaster will open the 2019 season with a smoother ride thanks to new tracks.

Workers are retracking The Racer, a roller coaster known to be a bumpy ride, the park told this news outlet Thursday.

The amusement park said that the back turns, including approach and exit halls, are getting new tracks and supports.

The track work is part of the ride’s annual offseason maintenance program, according to Don Helbig, area manager of digital marketing.

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“Within the past five years, both sides of the first drop were retracked as well as the turn coming out of the station on the Racer and The Beast had a stretch of the ride retracked coming out of the mid-course tunnel to the turn heading toward the base of the second lift hill,” Helbig said. “It’s part of what we do annually at the park with all of the rides.”

Both sides will continue to operate with trains traveling in the forward direction, Helbig said.

The Racer has given more than 105 million rides since it opened with Kings Island in 1972, the most in the park’s history, he said.

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