Chevy Corvette ZR1 Sets Car And Driver’s New Lightning Lap Record, Beats McLaren Senna By 0.7 Seconds

“Some automakers have described their sportiest vehicles as ‘race cars for the road,’ but McLaren makes them all liars,” Car and Driver wrote back in 2019, describing the ridiculously track-capable McLaren Senna‘s performance at its annual Lightning Lap competition. And McLaren didn’t just make those other OEMs liars — it made them losers, too, laying down a record-setting production car lap time of 2.34.9 that’s held ever since. Until today. Move over, McLaren Senna, because Car and Driver says there’s a new Lightning Lap record, and it belongs to the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. 

Yes, with an official lap time of 2:34.2 around Virginia International Raceway, the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is now the quickest production car that has ever entered Lightning Lap, beating the Senna’s old time by 0.7 seconds. And no, we’re not talking about the all-wheel-drive, 1,250-horsepower Corvette ZR1X hybrid. Hopefully, Chevrolet will make one available for next year’s Lightning Lap, but this year, our friends over at C/D were forced to settle for the regular ZR1 and its pedestrian 1,064 hp.

Still, while the boring ZR1 may not have the ZR1X’s power, it’s not like the Senna made Bugatti Chiron levels of power. Instead, it made a comparatively pedestrian 789 hp, giving each rear wheel a mere 394.5 hp to handle. That said, the Senna was also lighter, clocking in at 3,030 pounds when C/D weighed it, compared to the Corvette’s porkier 3,899 pounds. And funny enough, when you take weight into account, you get 3.7 pounds per horsepower from the Corvette and a nearly identical 3.8 lbs/hp from the McLaren.

If you currently own a Senna, don’t worry, you don’t have to throw it out and replace it with a Chevrolet. You’re rich and can just add a ZR1 to your collection. That said, if you do, you may have to regularly remind yourself that the Senna is a super-rare, limited-production hypercar that you were lucky to get your hands on, because the price difference will astound you. McLaren may have demanded $964,966 for a base Senna and $982,816 for C/D‘s test car, but $216,380 gets you a base ZR1 (before dealer markup), and the tester only cost $238,695. 

You can still buy an entire house in some parts of the country for $238,000, so that’s not chump change, but it’s still wild that the ZR1 just beat a purpose-built track special around VIR that cost four times as much. And while you can find nicer cabins at the ZR1’s pricepoint, it’s not like the Senna looks like a Rolls-Royce in comparison. You get a lot of faux suede and carbon fiber, which are expensive, but they don’t really feel that high-end. Not that you want a track-focused supercar with a pile of luxury features. I’m just saying, the traditional line doesn’t apply here.

This isn’t one of those, “Sure, it’s quick in a straight line, but what about corners and the cabin?” conversations that people normally have about cheap American performance. This is an American supercar showing up at the same track as the McLaren and kicking it in the teeth, while still being comfortable enough to drive home. But it is still fast as hell in a straight line, too, hitting a top speed of 179.0 mph and setting a new Lightning Lap top speed record in the process. As for the previous record holder, that was also a McLaren — specifically a McLaren 765LT that hit a top speed of 174.6 mph back in 2021.