Growing up I loved muscle cars--I had Chevelles, Camaros, Novas. I used to pull engines out at home to rebuild them and go drag racing, but the muscle car is only good for a straight line. These exotics are more versatile. They have the straight line plus they've got the handling and performance.
It's a refined car on the street but you can take it on the track and toss it around, get your adrenaline rush. It has 615 horsepower at the crank, but it's a light, light car, maybe around 3,000 pounds. The McLaren is lighter, more nimble than any other car I’ve owned, especially on the track. When you hit 170 mph on that straight-away and then go into a bank turn at 130 mph--that sensation is incredible. It's almost like a roller coaster ride.
I love this car too much to mess it up--I just want to enjoy the drive.
I took a 15 year hiatus from racing for a while. I got really invested in my work, didn’t have the time to be working on cars. But I missed the thrill, the adrenaline rush. There’s something about it that has always called to me, even when I was a kid whether it was go-karts, dirt bikes or motorcycles. Now I get to pursue this with my son, who has also gotten into cars in the last few years. I’ll let him drive my cars and he’ll even outperform me. I think it’s because he plays video games. Those games teach you the line. When he's in a real car, he's on the wall and always beats me by a few seconds. I'm more conservative when I drive. I might be a little bit slower on time but I don't risk crashing the car. Some people are more aggressive when they’re on the track, they'll go to the edge. I always stay to the edge, but minus 20%, just to be safe. I love this car too much to mess it up--I just want to enjoy the drive.