Thunder Road was a wooden roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park on the border between Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Opened in 1976 and built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, the racing roller coaster cost $1.6 million to construct and featured two identical tracks that paralleled each other. The design of the ride was based on Rebel Yell (now Racer 75), a wooden racing coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Thunder Road was closed on July 26, 2015, to make room for expansion at the park. On August 27, 2015, Carowinds announced that the Boomerang Bay waterpark would be expanded and renamed Carolina Harbor. The expansion resulted in the removal of Thunder Road.
History
Construction and opening
Carowinds unveiled plans for a $2 million expansion on January 22, 1975, at a press conference. The expansion would include a new roller coaster and renovation to increase ride capacity, provide a new dynamite live entertainment package and help with the food quality. Ride capacity was to be boosted by 25% through the $750,000 addition in new rides and the relocation of the existing attractions. There would also be a racing wooden roller coaster set to open in 1976.[1]