During the first round of NHRA Four-Wide Nationals first round eliminations, NHRA Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan suffered what appeared to be a tire explosion.

McClenathan, running from the No. 2 lane, skidded to a stop and he emerged from the car on his own. Had he not have been as fortunate, the veteran Top Fuel could have rested well knowing the safety teams were on the job.

Saturday afternoon, McClenathan watched from the shutdown area, as the rescue team rushed to the aid his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan.

During the first round of NHRA Four-Wide Nationals first round eliminations, NHRA Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan suffered what appeared to be a tire explosion.

McClenathan, running from the No. 2 lane, skidded to a stop and he emerged from the car on his own. Had he not have been as fortunate, the veteran Top Fuel could have rested well knowing the safety teams were on the job.

Saturday afternoon, McClenathan watched from the shutdown area, as the rescue team rushed to the aid his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan.

McClenathan spoke with those same crews on Saturday afternoon and the conversation left him with a comforting feeling.

“It was handled really well,” McClenathan said. “The [Safety Safari] said everything went without a hitch, no problem that was one of the things we were all kind of wondering. But from they said it was fantastic, handled great.”

And just what was the system?

“They are assigned to a lane and they were instructed if you’re in the No. 3 lane and we have something go off in the No. 4, don’t go because there are people already assigned to that lane. Too many chefs in the kitchen could spoil something. These guys all know exactly what they’re doing and they put it into play.”

The crew put actions to their words as McClenathan kept the car in his lane and upright. Outside of the expected cosmetic damage from the blown tire, the car was able to be repaired by DSR in-house chassis man Norm Boutet.

“The guys did a great job of getting it back together," said McClenathan. "We had to do a little patch here, fix a few things.”

"It still has a little bit of a front end issue. It wanted to pull left off the starting line. I drove it back in the groove, got it down through there. To go out there and run an .80 I would say they did a pretty darn good job. So I am happy with that.”

Can it get better?

“You bet. I think we have to do a rear end change. It looked like it locked up down there. At the same time, these guys are good. We'll get the ARMY guys over there. We'll get it done, I guarantee it.”