The racing season begins in earnest now with two world-famous races of very different character taking place this weekend. In addition, you can find some of the big guns from Baja staying sharp south of the border this weekend over a shorter distance than the usual 1,000-mile trek. You can find out more after the jump and by next week, I’ll have the 2015 Overwrought Guide to Racing Series for your perusal.

IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship: Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

After a divisive unification season between the American sports car series Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series, the IMSA United Sports Car Championship opens its second campaign with the United States’ biggest 24-hour race. Things appear to be looking up for the series after 2014 teething troubles.
Daytona’s “roval” configuration is the highest-speed circuit on the TUSC calendar; its contained nature and high banks provide a unique experience among the big 24-hour races. With only 3.81 miles and around 60 cars in four classes, traffic management becomes paramount for the top Prototype class. The 24-hour race is a tough one for television to cover so be prepared to jump channels if you want to watch the whole thing.
Friday’s supporting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race  provides a horsepower venue for cars that run in relatively close-to-stock configuration.
Website: TUSC site. Daytona site. Event page. Schedule. Entry list. Spotter guide.
Supporting series: BMW Performance 200 (Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge). Ferrari Challenge USA.
Live coverage: Flag-to-flag coverage starts Saturday @ 2 p.m. with the following schedule:

2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – FOX
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. – FOX Sports 2
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. – FOX Sports 1
10 p.m. to 7 a.m. (Sunday) – IMSA.com live
7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. – FOX Sports 1
You can also stream IMSA radio for all 24 hours, practices, and qualifying over on RadioLeMans.com. CTSCC – Live streaming of the race Friday @ 1:45 p.m. ET on IMSA.com.
 

World Rally Championship: Rallye Monte Carlo

The WRC opens its season with the oldest and most famous rally on its calendar, the Rallye Monte Carlo that traverses Monaco and in southern France. Volkswagen returns this year with 2014 WRC champion Sebastien Ogier in its lead car, but nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb will enter the Monte Carlo event as a one-off entry in a Citroen DS3 for the hell of it. Volkswagen certainly holds all the cards in the series, but it will be interesting to see how Loeb fares against the four VWs with what amounts to a privateer entry. Know what else is cool? Francois Delacore, Marc Duez, and Romain Dumas will each by piloting a Porsche 911 on the rally.
The rally itself covers 355 kilometers of tarmac, but its calendar position early in the year and its climbs through the mountain mean drivers will face unpredictable road and weather conditions. Tire choices and adaptability will be critical and, just so nobody gets off easy, the rally starts with a pair of night stages and is followed the next day with a pair of new stages, each run twice. The remaining stages will be familiar to WRC veterans and should they survive the first 13 legs, they’ll be faced with the famed Col de Turini as the penultimate leg before the power stage.
Website: WRC site. Monte Carlo site. Event page. Rally guide with schedule and maps. Entry List.
Supporting series: WRC2, WRC3, Junior WRC.
Live coverage: WRC Live streaming coverage starts Thursday. One-hour segments air on MAVTV on Thursday (2 p.m. ET) and Saturday (3:30 a.m. ET & 6 a.m. ET, both live). Also, short daily recaps are posted on the WRC YouTube Channel.
 

SCORE Off-Road Championship: San Felipe 250

The SCORE series, best known for sanctioning the Baja 1000, kick off their own desert-racing series with this 250-mile race in Baja California.  With the 1,000-mile still 10 months’ distant, this is far from a tune-up for the Big One, but the race is nevertheless heavily subscribed with a couple dozen Trophy Trucks in the top class and well over 100 total entries in the variety of two- and four-wheel classes.
Website: SCORE site. Event page. Schedule. Entry list. Course map.
Live coverage: Some manner of live coverage on SCORE Live. Delayed broadcast on CBS Sports Network (Dates TBA at press time).