Domination is the name of the game in 2025, at least in American motorsports.
The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season opened up with only two drivers combining to win the first half of the season — though given IndyCar is only a 17-race season (for some reason), that only amounted to nine races.
Either way, the first nine races of the IndyCar season saw just two drivers on the top step of the podium. Eventual champion Alex Palou won six of those races, while Kyle Kirkwood scored the other three checkered flags.
While it was clear from the jump that Palou was going to be the far-and-away driver to beat during the season, that didn’t stop Kirkwood from putting up a fight to the No. 10 team, at least early on the season (Kirkwood ended up fourth in the final standings).
A similar situation has unfolded as of late in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Corey Heim is by far the Palou of the series, and has won five of the last eight races on the 25-race schedule (not to mention four more on top of that to assert himself as the championship favorite).
So who won the other three races in that eight-race span?
None other than Heim’s biggest rival on the 2025 season, Layne Riggs.
If you’re keeping score at home, two drivers have won the last eight races in the Truck Series.
If Heim wins the next race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, not only would he set a record and hold the winningest season in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history, but that would make this nine-race stretch for Heim and Riggs exactly identical to the results Palou and Kirkwood put up to begin the IndyCar season.
Much like Kirkwood to Palou, Riggs is on an uphill battle to take down Heim for the championship. Heim’s (so far) nine-win season will be remembered for a long time because of how dominant he truly has been.
Even though Riggs has won every other race Heim hasn’t in the last eight races, that doesn’t mean his Front Row Motorsports team is on the same level as Heim’s TRICON Garage team.
However, unlike Palou, who was clearly going to win the title about halfway through the year, Heim’s name on the championship trophy will not be placed there until he takes the checkered flag at Phoenix, ahead of three other contenders.
Unfortunately, the dead horse needs beat again, but Heim and Riggs are putting up a similar stretch to Palou and Kirkwood, yet there’s the possibility that neither driver could emerge as the 2025 champion. The dominance for Heim should translate into a championship under any sensible measure — if my math is correct, there’s a scenario where Heim clinches the 2025 championship at the ROVAL under a full-season points format.
That would’ve given Heim the championship three races earlier than anticipated — much like Palou clinched the title two races earlier than the finale.
Instead, we will have no idea whether or not Heim can call himself a champion until the checkered flag of the final race at Phoenix Raceway because of the elimination-style format. But that doesn’t mean Riggs will jump in and take the championship either.
Only in NASCAR could the two most dominant and consistent drivers of the season walk away without the big trophy at season’s end. That is not the case in IndyCar, which is the big difference in what Heim and Riggs have done in comparison to what Palou and Kirkwood did in IndyCar.
The similarities between the two scenarios is still intriguing though. It’s still crazy to think that just two drivers could go on a run like this, winning nearly 10 races in a row between the two of them. That kind of dominance is something you barely see anymore, yet in two of the biggest motorsports series in the United States of America, we’ve now seen it twice in the same season.
if I had a nickel … ah, hell, you get the point.
Follow @AnthonyDamcott on X.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.