"Winning Indy is a dream for drag racers," Coughlin said. "Keeping that No. 1 ranking was a big goal and it's great to get it done because we worked darn hard for it. Now we start over, for all intents, and we need to reset and get set for the playoffs. It's going to be a thrill."

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Hector Arana (far lane) took the PSM win.  (Chris Haverly photo)

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Arana earned his third victory of the season and first ever at Indy by powering his Lucas Oil Buell to a 7.026 at 189.10 to defeat Michael Phillips in the final, who posted a 7.086 at 185.84 on his Phillips Racing Suzuki. Karen Stoffer secured the final playoff position when she won her first round match and Steve Johnson lost.

"This is the sweetest moment for me," Arana said. "All the years I struggled people always told me, 'There is something better for you,' but I always wondered when my time was going to come. Now, I've won three races this year including the U.S. Nationals and I can't ask for anything more."

Matt Smith was the only Matt Smith Racing team Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Monday to move into the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Motorsports Park.

Smith, riding the Don Schumacher Racing Nitro Fish Suzuki, ran 6.984 seconds at 188.86 mph to defeat Junior Pippin's 7.165 at 179.23.  Douglas Horne upset him with a run of 7.164 at 182.55 mph to 7.106 at 184.42.

Angie McBride, riding the Nitro Fish Buell, couldn’t outrun Hector Arana and L.E. Tonglet had a mechanical problem with his Frameworksmg.com Buell and lost to Karen Stoffer in the first round.

McBride covered the quarter-mile in 7.003 seconds at 185.97 mph, but it wasn’t enough to get the win light as Arana turned in a time of 6.973 at 189.60.

“We improved our time on that run . . . and we ran well all weekend,” said McBride.  “We just had a bad draw in the first round.  We’ll work on our bike and get ready for our next race in Charlotte (Sept. 20).”

Tonglet, competing in his first NHRA national event, said his good weekend turned bad when the motor sputtered and "caused the bike to slow down.  We just had a little bad luck.  Other than that, we had a fast Buell.

"It was a great weekend.  I want to thank Matt and the people at Frameworksgm.com for giving me the opportunity to do it."