Hooniverse debuted a new feature last Thursday where we look to the coming weekend for a variety of racing series around the globe so that you, our dear reader, can keep tabs on the racing you want to follow (We’ve drafted up a new lead image with a bit of zazz, too). Last weekend saw two giant names in motorsports taking wins: Amidst much fanfare, Dale Earnhardt Jr. snapped a 55-race victory drought and won the rain-delayed Daytona 500. In the forests of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, Internet-marketing genius and pretty-darn-good-rally-driver Ken Block claimed his seventh career Rally in the 100 Acre Woods victory. This week brings a season opener Down Under, classic racing at a classic American circuit, monsters blasting through the desert, some crapcans, and—of course—the second of 30-something NASCAR races this year. Follow the jump for details.

V8 Supercars: Clipsal 500 (Adelaide Street Circuit)

Hooniverse’s readership should be no strangers to Australia’s premiere racing series, which begins its 2014 season with a two-race weekend at the Adelaide Street Circuit. The burly V8s will run the feature event with a tremendous variety of supporting races from high-level open-wheelers to the Legends-style Aussie Racing Cars. The V8 Supercars will visit a number of tremendous temporary circuits (Mount Panorama and Surfers Paradise to name a couple), but Adelaide always producing some great racing. Turn 9, a bend that links the Brock and Brabham straights, on is particularly daunting with the V8s taking it flat with speeds in the mid-100s (mph). Of note: Volvo will make its first appearance in Australian touring cars since Robbie Francevic won the 1986 title in a Volvo 240. If you don’t have anyone to root for, remember that Jason Bright is one of us.

Website: V8 Supercars. Clipsal 500
Supporting series: V8 Utes, Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, Aussie Racing Cars, ENZED Touring Car Masters, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Dunlop Development Series
Live coverage: Broadcast on V8 SuperView (Pay subscription). Live timing on V8S website. Australian broadcast schedule here.

 

SCORE: San Felipe 250 (San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico)

The “Big One” for high-speed off-road racing is almost certainly the Paris-Dakar Rally, but the SCORE series runs the best of that world north of the Equator. As Pete Brock said in Episode 46 of the Hooniverse Podcast, SCORE requires some absolutely incredible engineering chops just to finish. The season opener at San Felipe may “only” be 250 miles, but it’s a tremendous warmup to the later 500- and 1,000-mile Baja races.

Website: SCORE International Off-Road Racing
Live coverage: UStream coverage and many other coverage options from the SCORE website.

 

SCCA Trans Am and SVRA: Sebring International Raceway

Held a mere two weeks before the 12 Hours of Sebring, this combined weekend springs the Sports Car Club of America’s top-billed series into action at one of America’s most-revered circuits. The (mostly) American muscle of Trans Am will headline with the feature event Sunday, but a solid mix of racing from the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) makes me wish I was at Sebring this weekend.

Website: Trans Am. SVRA.
Live coverage: Live timing & scoring on the Trans Am website. SVRA timing probably available on Race Monitor.
Supporting series: A myriad of vintage racers running two short races each plus three big, awesome endurance races: a night enduro Friday, a 60-minute race with a Le Mans start Saturday, and a historic GT/GTP/ALMS race Sunday.

 

24 Hours of LeMons: North Dallas Hooptie (Eagles Canyon Raceway; Decatur, TX)

I’ve already previewed this race in-depth, but the budget-racing series heads to Texas for one of two Gulf Region races this year. Unpredictable Texas weather and a track that’s particularly hard on cars usually makes for a supremely entertaining crapcan race.

Website: 24 Hours of LeMons
Live coverage: Live timing on Race Monitor. Facebook and Twitter updates from this writer as he’s able.

 

NASCAR: Phoenix International Raceway

The top two major NASCAR series embark on the second leg of the long grind that makes up a racing season. Phoenix’s one-mile tri-oval hosts the series’ first foray into the west, where the top-tier Sprint Cup and just-below-that Nationwide series will share the track with the NASCAR K&N West Series and the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series racing Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Website: Official site. Live Leaderboard. NASCAR Home Tracks site (K&N, Mexico series)
Supporting Series: Nationwide, K&N West, NASCAR Mexico
Absurd branding attempts that are also race names: The Profit on CNBC 500, Presented by Small Business Fueling America (Sprint Cup). Blue Jeans Go Green 200, Presented by Cotton: The Fabric of Our Lives (Nationwide)
Live coverage:  Sprint Cup on Fox (Sunday, 3 p.m. EST). Nationwide on ABC (Saturday, 3:45 p.m. EST).

 

[Photos Copyright 2014 Hooniverse/Eric Rood]