Gearing Up: Will Two-Driver Grip on Victory Lane Loosen at WWTR?
INDYCAR
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is experiencing dominance in 2025 that most of the paddock isn't celebrating. Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou and Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood have combined to win each of the season's first seven races.
SEE: WWTR Event Details
The combination of Palou (five wins) and Kirkwood (two) is as significant historically as it is presently. Since A.J. Foyt won the first seven races of the 1964 season – that was 61 years ago, by the way – only one season has had such a run by so few drivers.
In 2006, Sebastien Bourdais won the first four races of the Champ Car World Series season, and AJ Allmendinger won the next three races. In terms of two-man dominance, that's the only comparison over the past half-century to what we're seeing this year.
The modern era of this sport has exuded parity unlike few others. Since unification in 2008, there has only been one season – 2009 – when there weren't at least four drivers winning in the first seven races. On three occasions, there were seven winners among those seven races – most recently in 2021 when Palou, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Pato O'Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves and Marcus Ericsson won races.
This season's parity is rooted in second-place finishes. Six drivers have found themselves in the runner-up position, and Palou is one of them, part of why he holds a commanding 90-point lead over Arrow McLaren's O'Ward as the series nears its halfway point. Third-place Kirkwood trails Palou by 102 points. It's been two decades since a driver had that kind of an advantage at this point in the season.
This season has featured three temporary street circuits, three permanent road courses and, of course, the most important oval track of them all (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of Palou's first Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge victory). Perhaps a different winner emerges with Sunday's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway (8 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Certainly, history suggests it will be someone other than Palou or Kirkwood since Palou's win at Indy is the only oval victory they have between them.
Team Penske's Josef Newgarden has been the dominant series driver at this 1.25-mile short oval, capturing four of the past five victories and a track record five in all. O'Ward has regularly contended, as well, finishing second in three of the past five races.
Meanwhile, neither Palou nor Kirkwood has posted even a top-three finish at the track located a few miles east of St. Louis. Palou has fared better than Kirkwood, finishing ninth, seventh and fourth in the past three races. Kirkwood's average finish in series races there is 18.0, and his race a year ago effectively ended on Lap 17 when he got collected in a chain reaction incident in Turn 2.
This event spans two days. Saturday is packed with action, beginning with the first practice at 11:30 a.m. ET. Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award follows at 3 p.m., and the second practice will be at 5:30 p.m. All of this action airs live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Sunday, it's racing under the lights for the first time this season. Twenty-five drivers will try to reach victory lane for the first time this season. The other two -- Palou and Kirkwood -- will try to keep the checkered flags all to themselves.
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