Utilizing a 3.818-second pass at 314.46 mph during the evening session, Schumacher moved closer to capturing his first pole of the season and the 57th of his career.

"That was a great job by Mike Green (his crew chief) and the entire Army team," said the six-time world champion. "The track conditions and air temperature really helped our cause. Obviously, I'm extremely happy with today's effort."

Should Schumacher remain number one after the final two qualifying sessions on Saturday (scheduled for 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. EDT), he would clinch a bye in round one of final eliminations on Sunday since there's only a 15-car field.

"We would take that for sure," he added. "Any time you can get 20 free points, you need to advantage of that opportunity. But, we've still got some work to do come tomorrow. We also ran well in the heat today, so we need to make sure we have our hot weather tune up down pat."

With the sun out and track temperatures hovering around 115 degrees, Schumacher was able to post a 3.932-second run in the opening qualifying session which was the quickest of the round.

"That's the kind of weather we'll have on race day so we need to perform like that again tomorrow so we're totally prepared," he added.

This weekend in the Garden State, Schumacher is attempting to come back from a disappointing first round loss suffered at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. last Sunday.

"As I've stated before, we need a get well weekend," said the Chicago-area resident. "Today's performance was a nice step in the right direction."

Courtesy of Chris Dirato