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Dale Earnhardt To Rise Again In Roller Coaster Form

August 21, 2009 at 12:34 PM | by kjb | 1 Comment

Over the last few weeks, little tidbits of information have been trickling in regarding a new coaster set to hit the scene at Kings Dominion, outside of Richmond, Virginia. Finally the cat is out of the bag, and the park is looking to cozy up to the NASCAR crowd with their brand new Dale Earnhardt-themed coaster. Park officials are hoping to give visitors a taste of racecar speed as the new ride will hit 92 mph as it twists and turns along its steel track.

The Intimidator 305, as it will be known, is already being promoted as the tallest and fastest gravity-driven coaster on the country’s east coast (even though they're wrong, that title will stay with the 456-foot, 128-mph Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ). With a height of 305 feet and almost a mile of track, this is definitely going to be on the must-do list in 2010 for coaster crazies. We just need to get over the fact that the first drop sends riders barreling towards the earth at an 85-degree angle.

The park is shelling out $25 million to create this coaster, and hopes to have things open for business around April of next year. This giga-coaster is only the second of its kind to be constructed in North America, and was designed by the theme park professionals over at Intamin AG. We’ll be saving our pennies over the winter to ensure we’ve got the cash to jump into one of the black cars come next year.

Related Stories:
· Intimidator 305 [Official Site]
· SeaWorld Orlando Launches Manta, Its New World-Class Roller Coaster [Jaunted]
· Theme Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of an artist rendering: Official Site]

1 Comment

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  1. David Wong

    Jaunted Reader

    The Kings Dominion marketing people...

    ...would likely point out that Kingda Ka isn't gravity-driven. It's hydraulically launched up to 456-foot peak, reaching its top speed before leaving the ground.
    August 21, 2009 at 5:37 PM

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