Reutimann & Speed: The Odd Couple On The Front Row of NASCAR's Final Race

Remember the movie and then TV series The Odd Couple?  Felix and Oscar were the classic opposites, one fastidious and frumpy and the other wild, crazy and fun-loving.

Well, there is another Odd Couple who have shown up this Ford Championship weekend during the Cup qualifying session.   This Odd Couple, David Reutimann and Scott Speed, are the unlikely pair occupying the enviable position of pole and outside pole positions for the final NASCAR race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Reutimann tends to be more like Felix, a little straight-laced and uptight.  And Scott Speed is definitely the more free-spirited one of the pair.

But both managed to have the qualifying sessions of their lives for this finale of the race year.  This was David Reutimann's first pole ever, driving the number 44 for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Reutimann, who for so many races, sweated out qualifying just trying to get into the race, finally dominated the qualifying run.  He has indeed been making steady progress toward the front all season long, and this pole run was the culmination of his improvement for the year.

Scott Speed took the green flag in qualifying in the number 83 Red Bull Toyota.  That is not Speed's usual car, as he has been driving the number 84 Red Bull car.

Last week, in one of the more bizarre wrecks of the season, Speed had the misfortune to find his number 84 Toyota underneath the car of David Gilliland.  This knocked Speed's number 84 car out of the top 35 in points, forcing the car to have to qualify in on time.

So, Red Bull made a strategic decision.  They decided to swap the drivers of the number 83 car and 84 cars, swapping out Brian Vickers to the 84 and Scott Speed to the 83 car. 

This swap would ensure that Speed would be in the race and could concentrate on honing race set up instead of worrying about qualifying into the show.  The pressure would then be on the more veteran Vickers to get the number 84 into the race.

So, what did Speed do?  He came out and qualified the number 83 on the outside pole.  Brian Vickers also qualified his way into the race, but was not as strong as Speed, placing the number 84 car in the 20th starting position.

Reutimann, in typical Felix style, breathed a sigh of relief and briefly celebrated his first pole, before moving into worry mode for the upcoming race.  And Speed, in usual Oscar style, thought the outside pole was just another cool adventure in his stock car career.

When Felix Reutimann and Oscar Speed lead the 43 drivers off to the green flag for the final time this season, it will be surely be a great battle up front between these oddest of pairs.