Qualla: Afterburn

Afterburn: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. When the trains of NASCAR drivers Stanton Barrett, Tony Stewart, Jerry Nadeau, and Kenny Wallace climbed the lift hill on a winter day in 1999, the ride beneath them was still called Top Gun: The Jet Coaster. It was the most expensive thing Carowinds had ever built - $10.5 million of inverted steel curling through six inversions over the South Carolina pines. Twenty-five years later, the trains still climb the same hill. The name on the entrance sign has changed twice. The screams have not.

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Image: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Afterburn: A Bolliger and Mabillard Original

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Swiss firm Bolliger and Mabillard built their reputation on smoothness, and Afterburn is exhibit A. Stretching 2,956 feet of inverted steel track and standing 113 feet at its peak, the ride threads vertical loop into Immelmann into zero-g roll into batwing into corkscrew - si...

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Image: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Afterburn: The Wild Bull Trade

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. To build the coaster, Carowinds had to demolish something else. The casualty was Wild Bull, a Bayern Kurve flat ride that spun guests in a tight horizontal loop - charming, dated, and exactly the kind of attraction that made room for the new era of steel monsters. The park promis...

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Image: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Afterburn: Three Names, One Ride

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit mliu92 from San Mateo, CC BY-SA 2.0. The trains have stayed the same. Almost everything else has been renamed. Top Gun launched in 1999 under Paramount Parks, themed to the 1986 film with the same name. When Cedar Fair bought Paramount Parks in 2006, the studio licensing went with the sale - Cedar Fair owned the rid...

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Image: mliu92 from San Mateo | CC BY-SA 2.0

Afterburn: The Golden Ticket Years

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Coasterman1234 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Afterburn debuted at position 18 on Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards list of top steel coasters in 1999 - a strong start for a ride still wet with new paint. It returned to the rankings through 2008, fell off, came back for 2012 and 2013, and has not placed since 201...

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Image: Coasterman1234 at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Afterburn: Climbing the Lift Today

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Peter Fitzgerald, OpenStreetMap.org, CC BY-SA 2.0. From the chain lift, riders see the I-77 corridor stretching toward Charlotte, the parking lot, and on a clear day, the corporate park five miles north where Six Flags now runs the company. The pre-drop is small and deceptive. Then the train banks right, dives into the vertical l...

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Image: Peter Fitzgerald, OpenStreetMap.org | CC BY-SA 2.0