“Last year, I was sitting in that dealership, watching every single session of MotoAmerica, British Superbike, MotoGP, WorldSBK, all live, and I just wanted to jump off a bridge,” says Brandon Paasch, candidly. “I was looking at like some of the guys I’ve beaten before—they were out there racing—and I was sitting there working. I told myself, ‘I need to figure this out.’”
No reality check hits a professional motorcycle racer harder than having to get a “real” job, but for two-time DAYTONA 200 Champion Brandon Paasch, that’s exactly what he faced in 2025 after losing his ride with the legendary Team Hammer’s M4 ECSTAR Suzuki outfit.
“Man, that was frustrating. I was just sitting there ready to knock somebody out. It was tough year, but I think it makes me appreciate the fact I get a second chance even more now. Not everybody gets one in this sport,” Paasch says.
Still only 25, Paasch has been a constant in the MotoAmerica paddock since the KRAVE Group took over the reins of American professional road racing from the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG). Paasch won the one-make KTM RC Cup as a 15-year-old, and his racing journey saw him head to Europe where he would spend a couple of seasons riding in the British MotoStar (Moto3) Championship, taking the title in 2019 and becoming the first American to compete in a Moto3 World Championship race that season in the British MotoGP at Silverstone.
Upon returning to the U.S., Paasch took the first of two consecutive DAYTONA 200 victories in 2021 on a Yamaha, then followed it up in 2022 with a nail-biting win on a Triumph by just 0.007-seconds, cementing his place in American racing history as the youngest two-time winner of the great race. He was still only 19-years-old.
It seemed the sky was the limit for Paasch, but although the New Jersey native has since competed in Superbike, Supersport, Stock 1000 and King of the Baggers, nothing has stuck, and his career looked to have run out of steam by the end of 2024.
“Supercross and motocross kids are homeschooled from five-years-old, right? And they never touch a motorcycle dealership or a construction site or an office job, and they might never have to if they are lucky enough to make a living at it,” Paasch says. “Well, even for me, I’ve been lucky enough my whole career to never to have to have a job. I’d be in a position where, okay, I wasn’t making a bunch of money, but I was able to survive off racing motorcycles, training and riding every day. That was me for a long time.
“And then when I lost my ride last year, it was like, oh, crap! There are real jobs out there! I never saw myself working anywhere other than racing a motorcycle, and when you don’t have a ride and you still need to make some money, somehow, you’ve got to figure it out. And that was a pretty tough reality check for me last year, but I kind of found a good home at Motorcycle Mall. They let me take off to go race. It’s a good gig.”
When viewed from the outside, Paasch’s chance at MotoAmerica Superbike racing redemption hasn’t been going as smoothly as he’d have liked, but that’s not the full story. A fifth place in inclement weather of race one at Ridge Motorsports Park has been his best showing to date, as Paasch and the M4 team got used to a new working order.
During the most recent stop at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Paasch took advantage of other riders’ misfortune, kept his bike upright and managed a seventh-place finish in a dry Race 2.
“Chris (Ulrich) is my crew chief, and this is his first time being a full-time crew chief in Superbike, so he’s been going through a learning process. Ammar Bazzaz is my data guy, and he’s been around for several years, but he’s not really been in the paddock for the past 10 years. So, even for him, it’s been a lot of getting back up to speed, relearning all the systems and understanding what I like from the bike. It’s been a big learning process for me of getting back into this class, but I think we’re starting to find some direction.
“This isn’t a game where you can come in, show up, and beat everybody right out of the gate,” Paasch continues. “The level of competition in MotoAmerica is so high that almost everyone has crashed hard at some point this season. You look at Cameron Beaubier, one of the greatest American racers ever, and even he’s been on the ground. Ben Smith, PJ Jacobsen, Cameron Petersen, Sean Dylan Kelly, Richie Escalante—I’ve crashed too. These bikes are incredibly fast, but they’re also demanding, and everyone is pushing to the absolute limit.
“For a lot of riders, their income depends on podium bonuses, so if you’re not finishing on the box, you’re not making money. That creates pressure and raises tensions because everyone is fighting for the same paycheck. I’m on a one-year deal, so I know I have to perform to earn another ride. When things don’t go well, it’s easy to lose your temper because your career is on the line. Managing those emotions is something I’m working on as I get older and gain more experience.”
Paasch’s career has been wide and varied, but there’s one race that’s been a siren call ever since childhood that he’s now within touching distance of making happen—the Isle of Man TT.
“I’m going to go over there, scope it out, get my couple of laps in, watch the Classic TT and hopefully get my license to go racing next year at the TT,” Paasch says. “There’s a lot of history with that race, and it’s something that’s been calling my name since I was a little kid, and I may finally have the chance to do it.
“It’s been unreal just being on the phone talking about it with the people involved, thinking, ‘all right, this is actually, maybe, is going to happen’. We’ll see how that goes.
“I might go there and scare myself and not want to do it, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Will America have its first Superbike TT racer in 2027 since Brandon Cretu? That milestone will have to wait, as the immediate priority remains locked on the present.
With three rounds remaining in the 2026 Quad Lock Superbike Championship, the 25-year-old New Jersey native currently sits sixth in the standings, trailing the leader by 133 points but standing just 45 markers outside a coveted top-five championship finish.
