The European and Australian touring car series was great! I don't think Speed carries it anymore. Absolutely without a doubt the BEST racing I have EVER seen, eclipsing ALMS and Trans Am by a LONG shot. JMac is right about the British GT series - good watching but it doesn't seem to be on much.
If you like bikes, this year in MotoGP should be awesome - we shall see. Of course I'm seriously looking forward to F1 as well. For the haters, this year Ferrari has been slower in testing than the others, and they are even saying they have a problem keeping up with their tires (now considered inferior to the Michelins). It won't be a Ferrari parade this year, IMO.
As for CART and IRL, it's sad to see things going this way, but Dean is right on IMO. CART really screwed up a good thing. I think they tried to outdo themselves and turn it into a wannabe Nascar thing. I just couldn't get into it - I dont know why. Even before they were losing sponsors and teams left and right, there was something missing. There were a lot of cockups with races being delayed and cancelled, and the pre-race coverage was just terrible. The very few times some interesting stuff happened (drivers getting POed at each other and rivalries and feuds developing) they seemed to squish it for whatever reason. And then they seemed to move towards turning it into a spec racing series - although that may not have been by choice.
I don't like the IRL owner either - I forget his name. But I don't think he's out to just crush CART. I don't think it would do anything for IRL for him just to kill it for egos sake, and I think he wants to diversify into road racing, and what better way than to get some established CART races to do that. The fan base, equipment, contracts, and schedules are already there. It's an easy in for him, I think. I really can't stand IRL the way it is now. Indy cars on an oval just do nothing for me. I don't care about the "danger" people talk about, it's just boring, and I still dont think it takes a lot of talent to do that sort of racing or build that sort of car.