Tony Schumacher has been around racing long enough to know when something isn't right. And Saturday, just before the final qualifying session at the Denso NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, something just didn't seem right in a pre-run conversation with crew chief Mike Neff.

"Mike said, ‘It’s warmer out than we expected, but the track’s better than we’re getting on the gripper,'" Schumacher said. "He’s a genius kind of guy. Those guys are all; all the crew chiefs are just that smart where they go, ‘Here, the grip meter says this. That ain’t right."

"I mean the tool that we live by isn’t right. We’re at 5,200 feet altitude, everything is difficult, and we go out and run a good number. Now the run before, that run before, we were running the same number."

Neff was spot on as Schumacher saved his best for last, cranking out a 3.765-second lap 328.46 miles per hour.

"What is impressive about the run we just made isn’t that we made it, it’s that Mike said we’re going to run a 3.76 and we did it," Schumacher continued. "And on the run before, the run before would have been a 3.76 also which is, it made a little spin. There’s a little bump out there, it hits the bump, and it spins a little bit and throws the belt off. And when it does that, at the finish line, I always hit the parachutes at 830 to 850 feet. I push the button, the chutes caught at 1,010 feet.

"When the belt comes off it stops your momentum down there; the chutes come out before the finish line. So it still ran a .79, and it put us in a comfortable spot, but we knew there was more in there and we just made the run that showed it, it just didn’t get all the way to the finish line."

In just their fourth race together Schumacher and Neff are full force in feeling their united mojo. It's the kind of mojo which leads to championships.

"I love when my crew chief makes a decision when we’re one pair back to change the clutch," Schumacher explained. "When he sees whatever he sees, and he digs in there and makes these small changes, and it does what he says because so many years of my career, you go out, you make a change, and it does the opposite, it does all different things.

"Mike seems to have a grip where and when he makes a change when he sees the weather change, when he sees a condition when the clouds come over and he says, ‘We need just a little more or just a little less’ and makes a small change."

"It responds. That makes it easy. Number one qualifying’s never been the best thing in the world. It’s not where most people win from, but you know what? I don’t care where we qualify right now. I’m comfortable racing with Mike, and I’m comfortable racing with Phil [Shuler]. The car’s running good and I’m looking forward to going out here and trying to win. It’s not going to be easy, man."

It didn't take long for Schumacher to notice the immediate camaraderie Neff has brought with him from the driver to the individual members of the crew.

"When Mike says he’s making a change, he makes a change," Schumacher explained. "And the guys that work on the car, I’ve noticed one thing about Mike, he walks out and talks to each guy, ‘What do you think? What do you think? What do you think?"

"It makes them feel extremely team-like. It makes them feel that their input matters. Compile that with we’re having a good time. It’s fun right now.

"Even when we got beat last race, I mean we had a simple little fire in a battery that cost us the race. You know, but it’s not like we’re lost and have other problems. We have a great race car. Every now and then something goes wrong. We’ve had some bad luck and little stupid things, but we have a great car.

"Every given Sunday right now, I wake up and go, ‘This could be the day.’ We have a chance to win, and I’m excited to be back here. Mike was a great choice, and I’m proud to have him here."

And for Schumacher with Neff, any given Sunday is more than just a phrase.