In addition to his two MotoAmerica Supersport titles, Beach, 27, is the top winner in the Supersport class and has additional road-racing accolades to add to his résumé, both in the U.S. and abroad. In 2008, he was the first American to win the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. In 2010, he won what was considered one of this country’s premier championships for up-and-coming road racers — the AMA Pro East Supersport Series.
This will be Beach’s second stint on an Attack Performance Superbike. He raced with the squad in 2011 and scored six top-10 finishes and was ranked 12th in the series at the end of the year.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun,” Beach said. “Stepping back into the Superbike class is a great opportunity for me. I’ve ridden the Attack Yamaha R1 in testing and it’s a bike I like a lot. There’s definitely stuff I’ve got to learn about it. I’ve had to change my riding style a little bit coming from Supersport racing.”
Team owner Tim Estenson has been following Beach for the past few years and had him ride with the team at the final two American Flat Track races last season. Estenson has long felt Beach is a top contender for a Grand National title and was happy to have him join the program. Estenson had not planned on venturing into road racing, but has a strong belief in giving back and helping provide young, talented riders the opportunities he wished he had when he was younger.
“I’m really excited about this season and to have J.D. as a part of our program,” Estenson said. “I met him through Kolby (Carlile) a couple of years ago and have watched him race. He’s extremely talented, both in dirt track and road racing, and I’m so happy to have him on board for 2019. It’s so rare that a rider can perform at a high level in both championships, especially in the modern era, when every discipline has become more and more specialized. So, although our original plan was just to go flat-track racing with J.D., I’m really happy to be able to put this together and have him ride for us both in American Flat Track and MotoAmerica. We have a great partner with Attack Performance. Richard (Stanboli) is one of the best in the business with a lot of success in the sport. I think it’s going to be a great year.”
Both Estenson and Stanboli feel the partnership will prove to be a recipe for success. Stanboli and Attack Performance have scored multiple championships and victories in professional road racing in the U.S. Last season, Attack Performance was a top contender, even against the factory teams, and the team looks to pick up where it left off with Beach.
“Yeah, I’m super-excited,” Stanboli said. “We’re going to be on the second year of developing this motorcycle. The first year we spent basically learning the bike, learning the electronics and learning the race tracks and what the bike liked. I think it is super cool that you got a guy who just came off of a championship that is hungry and is fit and has a really good work ethic that’s going to ride this motorcycle. We’ll just go out and test as much as we can with J.D., and get a lot of seat time with him. We’ll take everything we learn from this year and make the bike that much better.”
The other thing that’s in the back of Beach’s mind is the possibility of joining a very exclusive club — winners of motorcycle racing’s Grand Slam. Earning the Grand Slam means a rider has to win at every venue of flat-track racing (mile, half-mile, short-track and TT) as well as winning a premier class road race national.
Only four riders have pulled off the Grand Slam and they are all legends and Hall of Famers — Mann, Roberts, Shobert and Chandler. Beach is starting from scratch, having no victories yet in the required nationals, but he at least has the opportunity to accomplish that monumental feat this summer.
“I mean, it’s crazy to think I’d be able to pull that off and I know it’s a long shot,” Beach said. “But I’d be lying if I said that the Grand Slam wasn’t in the back of my mind and people ask me about it all the time. If I did that, I guess you could say that would be a dream season.”