A professional drag racer from Michigan is still fighting for his life in a burn unit after his dragster exploded at Darana Raceway, formerly known as National Trail Raceway, in Hebron earlier this month. Marvin Blaney, 68, has been racing cars since he was 16. His wife, April, says his 1963 Corvette is his favorite car. According to a statement released July 9 from the International Hot Rod Association, Blaney’s car suffered an engine explosion during the second round of Top Sportsman qualifying at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series. That engine explosion engulfed the car in fire in a matter of moments, trapping Blaney inside. He is alive, but very badly burned. April said he’s undergone skin grafts to his legs and has had several fingers removed, with a surgery scheduled to remove more. April hasn’t left her husband's side since the incident. She said Tuesday was her first time stepping outside of the hospital. She said it’s been extremely difficult to watch her husband go through such pain and the events of that day are still fresh in both of their minds. “It was like any other drag race day,” April said, recalling that day. As Marvin was lining up, something went horribly wrong. “I got next to his car door, driver's side door and the first explosion happened. I went over to the wall and I was going to go back over and then the second explosion happened. It could be felt over half a mile away. I was watching my husband burn. I could see his left hand and his left foot trying to get out. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs and nobody's coming. All I could do was scream," she explained. Two weeks later, Marvin is conscious, but heavily medicated for the pain. She said it hasn’t stopped him from reliving the explosion. “He hasn't left that car. At night, he cries out in his raspy voice because he has no voice. ‘Help me, I'm burning,’” she said. “All I can do is comfort him and wake him up and let him know that he's in a safe place. And it happens multiple times each night.” Witnessing the whole event, April said it appeared the track’s crew wasn’t prepared to handle an emergency like the one that left her husband in the hospital. “The fire safety crews. They came running in shorts and t-shirts and small little fire extinguishers that wouldn't put anything out. In the videos… I relive the videos,” she said. April recalls a man she described as an angel who pulled her husband out of his car. “One angel, one angel came in and Marvin said he heard them because he yelled. He said, ‘Come on, buddy, we're getting out of here,’ and this guy didn't have any fire equipment on,” she recalled. “He got my husband out of there.” She said the race wives grabbed her and put her in a car, rushing her to the hospital, telling her, “We’ve got to go now.” The day of the incident, the IHRA put out this statement on the incident: “During the second round of Top Sportsman qualifying at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series on Wednesday at National Trail Raceway, Marvin Blaney’s Top Sportsman ’63 Corvette suffered an engine explosion after the burnout. Blaney was removed from the vehicle and transported to a local medical facility for further evaluation.” 10TV went to the track Tuesday to find someone who could comment on the incident and what, if anything, would change at the track, but was promptly told it was a legal matter and they couldn’t say anything. A contact card was left at the track’s office for someone to reach out from the IHRA, but no one responded by airtime. “It's got to change. People should be in fire safety equipment and clothing. At the front, the middle and the end of that track,” April said. “He should not have been burning that long. I was watching my husband burn to death and I couldn't do anything.” Videos circulating on social media show the explosion and the following response. The first people to arrive at the car with fire extinguishers got to the car about 10 to 15 seconds after the fire broke out. A truck with a hose didn’t get there for almost a minute and a half. April offered these words to the IHRA: “The sanctioning body knows what they did and they know what they didn't do. And they know what should have been done. That's all I have to say.” Since the incident, she and Marvin have received countless messages from the racing community around the world. “I sit there on my phone morning, noon and night, messaging everybody or returning everybody's messages. That's my only outlet to the outside world,” she said. “And I thank everybody for their prayers. I don't want anything from anybody. I just want everyone's prayers and love for him.”