Afterburn is an inverted roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The ride previously operated as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster, before it was renamed following Cedar Fair's purchase of Paramount Parks in 2006.

Afterburn has generally been well received, having been featured 11 times as a top 50 roller coaster in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards.

In early 1997, Carowinds began consultations with roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard about adding a new ride to their park.

[8] Riders of the first cycle included NASCAR drivers Stanton Barrett, Tony Stewart, Jerry Nadeau, and Kenny Wallace.

Riders then travel through a small ravine that dips below ground level and enter an Immelmann loop which sends the train in the opposite direction.

The train then drops towards the ground, climbs back up, and spins through a zero-g roll, an inverting element where riders experience the feeling of weightlessness.

Afterwards, the train dives back towards the ground and enters the double-inverting batwing element that crosses through a tunnel underneath the park's rear entrance.

[13] The Coaster Critic describes the "pacing and order of inversions [as] near perfect", giving the ride an "excellent" rating of 9 out of 10.