Motorsports this weekend: April 1-2

North American TV coverage is shown where available (all times Eastern).

NASCAR:
It's another short-track weekend, this time at Martinsville, a track often described as two dragstrips connected by two hairpins. Keyword of the weekend: BRAKES. The weather should be much improved over the cold/wet/snowy weekend in Bristol. (NASCAR GarageCam coverage shown at right)

FOX, Sunday 1pm ET

Formula 1:
The circus is in Melbourne, Australia, this weekend for the last of the three season-opening "fly-away" races. Compared to Bahrain and Malaysia, the relatively cool temperatures of Melbourne should give a much better indication of the teams' performance heading into the critical European races. The slippery Albert Park racetrack has already proved a handful for drivers in Friday's practice sessions. Remember the dateline! Qualifying is midnight (ET) Friday and the race is Saturday night.

SPEED Channel, Saturday 10:30 pm ET

A1GP:
The closing round of A1 Grand Prix's first season is underway in Shanghai, China, with Team France once again at the top of the timesheets in Friday practice. France has locked up the championship, and Switzerland looks secure in second place, but Great Britain has only a shaky grasp on the final step on the championship podium, with Brazil, New Zealand and Portugal right on their heels.

OLN, Sunday 3pm ET

IRL:
The IndyCar series goes street racing this weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ex-Champ Car racer and one-time Formula 1 aspirant Scott Dixon led the opening practice session for Andretti Green Racing. IRL marketing guru and ex-rocker Gene Simmons is the event's Grand Marshall. Look for Marco Andretti to improve on his IRL debut performance at the Homestead-Miami oval last week - the 3rd-generation racing Andretti won the IRL Infiniti Pro Series race here last year.

ESPN, Sunday 3:30pm ET

NHRA:
The straight-line crowd is at Houston Raceway Park this weekend for the 19th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals. The sea-level track is one of the sport's quickest, so we could easily see national records if conditions are right.

ESPN2, Sunday 4pm ET

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