Frictional heating of metals at reciprocating or sliding contacts in high-pressure oxygen environments can result in catastrophic metal fires. This process of frictional ignition has been linked to several high-profile failures in oxidizer-rich turbopumps, and it remains an ongoing challenge in the development of next-generation reusable rocket engines. In early NASA studies on frictional ignition of candidate turbine materials, oxide dispersion-strengthened Ni-base superalloys were found to be exceptionally ignition-resistant. Here we have assessed the tribological phenomena that impart this behavior through high-speed sliding, frictional ignition experiments on binary Ni-Cr alloys and the oxide dispersion-strengthened Ni-Cr alloys MA754 and MA758. The rubbing surfaces on recovered non-ignited samples were coated with oxide tribolayers that formed in situ during sliding. An order of magnitude decrease in friction coefficient during the early stages of sliding resulted from tribolayer growth. An abrupt increase in friction coefficient before ignition was linked to tribolayer breakdown, which exposed the hot underlying metal to high-pressure oxygen. The oxide dispersion-strengthened alloy MA754 was the only material that did not ignite under any test conditions. Its specific content of Cr and Y2O3 dispersoids synergistically promote rapid growth of a thick, adherent oxide tribolayer strengthened by refractory Ni2CrO4 precipitates. These features collectively mitigate tribolayer breakdown, suppressing ignition. The present results highlight the importance of tribolayer stability in frictional ignition resistance and suggest alloy design strategies for tailoring oxidational wear behaviors to achieve intrinsically ignition-resistant materials.