South OC Cars and Coffee co-founder James Wehr was the person who was behind the wheel of the speeding McLaren that spun out of control, struck a tree, split in half and burst into flames early Sunday, Sept. 13, in Irvine, killing him and his 22-year-old passenger, police said Tuesday.
Though authorities have not officially identified the pair as of Tuesday evening, a family member told the California Post the passenger was 22-year-old Alexis “Lexi” Kramer. Wehr was ID’d on social media by family members on Sunday.
Kramer, from Lakeland, Florida, worked at Hooters and appeared as a model in the restaurant chain’s 2026 calendar, according to her Instagram account. Her recent posts included images of her on a sleek Kawasaki motorcycle and in a race car.
At one point on Sunday, Newport Beach police stopped Wehr for a modified exhaust and issued him a warning, Irvine police spokesman Kyle Oldoerp said.
The 2019 McLaren was traveling north on Deerfield Avenue near Culver Drive at a high rate of speed when it struck a tree around 12:20 a.m., the Irvine Police Department said.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and found both occupants dead inside the car. Police initially did not publicly say who was behind the wheel, but on Tuesday they confirmed that Wehr was driving.
Wehr, 27, co-founded South OC Cars and Coffee with his father, Simon Wehr. The free event, which bills itself as “the world’s largest weekly car show,” is held Saturday mornings at The Outlets at San Clemente and regularly attracts hundreds of exotic, vintage and specialty vehicles.
Wehr’s wife, who was not involved in the crash, joined other family members and South OC Cars and Coffee in announcing his death on social media Sunday. Members of Southern California’s automotive community remembered him as an energetic community builder.
Kaitlin_Grace, Kramer’s sister, paid tribute to her in an Instagram post.
“Lexi was so much more than just my best friend, she was all of my love, my heart, my attitude, and my humor wrapped into a smaller, more chaotic, less filtered, package. She was my other half,” she wrote.
“I wish now I could go back and express to her more about how much that really meant to me. When either of us were going through hard times we were always curled up in each other’s beds just trying to figure it out together,” Kaitlin_Grace posted. “I don’t know how to figure this one out without her. I don’t know what to do now without her. The love of my life.”
Police have not said what caused Wehr to lose control of the McLaren; nor have they released a precise or ballpark speed. The crash remains under investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Irvine Police Department at 949-724-7047.