During the final qualifying session, Top Fuel’s Antron Brown miraculously guided his Matco Tools Toyota safely down the right lane and into the turnout area without incident, despite a malfunction with his wing strut early in the run.

He said after exiting the car that the dragster “made a hard move” that “surprised me.” He said he thought he had dropped a cylinder or two before crew chief Brian Corradi told him otherwise.

Brown said, “The cool thing is that the car stayed on the ground. It didn’t get airborne. I should’ve shut it down early – not worth it. I was really blessed and fortunate there. That was a lucky one there. God was definitely looking out,” Brown said.

He said his crew would have everything fixed before he has to face Mike Salinas in the first round of eliminations Sunday.