It was hard to imagine things could get better for Andrew Hines at the U.S. Nationals, but they did Saturday.

A day after taking the provisional pole, Hines rode his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a national record time of a 6.815-seconds at 195.17 mph. The speed was a new track record at Indy.

“I didn’t know what to expect,“ Hines said. “I saw Eddie (Krawiec) (his teammate) go an 86 out there and I saw his speed 194.94 and I thought we had made the right tune up call on that one. My bike went 195 mph on that run and it was just a tick better at 60 feet and that’s how we got that time. We got it to the eighth-mile at 162 mph and you do not usually see that here at Indy because the altitude of this track. But, the air just got really dry and that’s what the motorcycles love.”

On more than one occasion, Funny Car driver Matt Hagan has talked about how his crew chief Tommy DeLago swings for the fences.

Saturday night, DeLago hit a home run.

Hagan blazed the Don Schumacher Racing Diehard Dodge to a track record time of 4.039 seconds at 277.89 mph to grab the provisional pole at the U.S. Nationals.

Mike Janis raced to the qualifying lead Saturday in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the world’s most prestigious drag race.

Janis powered his late model Ford Mustang to a leading time of 5.887 seconds at 244.16 mph to lead the 16-car order.

Larry Dixon raced to the qualifying lead Saturday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, capping a record-setting day of performances at the world’s most prestigious drag race.

Matt Hagan, Jeg Coughlin and Andrew Hines also were qualifying leaders in their categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event, the first of six championship playoff races.

Dixon, winner of nine races and the top seed in Top Fuel entering the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, covered historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis with a track record run of 3.776 seconds at 324.36 mph in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster.

Centre Pointe Collision Center Mustang driver Tony Bartone took care of business and protected his perch atop the Top Alcohol Funny Car pack with a career best 5.498 at 261.37 mph in the final pass on Saturday at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Bartone's 5.532 from the day before was, impressively, nearly a tenth quicker than then No. 2 qualifier Fred Hagen Jr.'s 5.626, but Hagen narrowed the gap, clocking a 5.550 to stay No. 2.

Location, location, location is the mantra for a successful business.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. used location to his advantage to snatch away the top qualifying spot during second day qualifying at the NHRA U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

Coughlin overtook Mike Edwards in the third session with a 6.580 pass at 209.39 miles per hour. The four-time Indy winner’s pass stands as the track elapsed time record.

If Coughlin’s run holds through tomorrow’s final day of qualifying, it will represent his third pole of 2010.

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Starting at the U.S. Nationals this weekend, and for the remainder of the NHRA season, Pro Stock Motorcycle racers Michael Phillips and Craig Treble are both running for the ‘Pistonator’ team run by the Attitude Apparel team of Rodger Brogdon and Steve Kent.

“Roger (Brogdon) just figured since he had whole lot more invested in the Attitude Apparel deal it would be best to have both the bikes in the Attitude Apparel (colors),” said Phillips, who was running the Racers Edge colors prior to Indy. “Treble and I have a good relationship and between the two of us, we both should do real well.”

Treble concurred with Phillips.

Steve Dillman is sporting a banner at this weekend's NHRA U.S. Nationals for Indiana Rain, the new album by Sandy Kastel, on the side of his gorgeous black Super Gas '67 Chevy II. Kastel will also be singing the national anthem on Monday during the pre-race ceremony.

“Sandy's husband, Harold Stout, and I have been friends since we were about 18 years old,” said Dillman. “Sandy came out with her new album and wanted to know if I'd be interested in helping them promote it. It's really a win-win situation for us both; I get to race, and they can promote their album.”

Dillman has been racing for more than a few years, and he said he was at the first race here at Indy.

What do Tom Brady and Mike Ditka have to do with drag racing? Well, nothing, really, except to serve as inspiration for a couple of Top Fuel racers. Larry Dixon, a nine-time winner this season in the Al-Anabi Dragster on his way to securing the No. 1 ranking heading into the Countdown, identifies with the New England Patriots quarterback.

Said Dixon, "I feel very proud that we've done as well as we've done and won as many races as we have in the regular season. I'm proud of the Al-Anabi team. But ask Tom Brady about his undefeated regular season (2007-08) and ask him where that ranks in his career accomplishments. I think he would say that's not among his top memories, because he didn't win the Super Bowl. (The New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 in the Feb. 3, 2008 Super Bowl.) Any of the 10 teams in the countdown has a good shot at winning the Full Throttle championship, and at this point, the championship is all that really counts. It would be an honor to win a Full Throttle championship for the Al-Anabi Racing team, His Highness Sheik Khalid and the people of Qatar. We have a long way to go, but it all starts this weekend."