One of the biggest question marks of the AMA Pro Road Racing off-season was answered last week when Erik Buell Racing owner Erik Buell announced that he had signed two-time AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion Danny Eslick to ride one of his 1190RS motorcycles in the 2012 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship, and Eslick couldn’t be happier about the deal and the opportunity to finally move up to the premier class of American motorcycle road racing. “I’m definitely excited to get it done,” Eslick told Roadracingworld.com Wednesday, January 18, one day after he actually signed his name beside Erik Buell’s on his contract. Although he had stated in one interview in November of 2011 that he had a Superbike deal in the works, Eslick admitted that he was facing limited opportunities for the 2012 season. Then his iPhone rang at the beginning of January, and it was Buell on the other end of the call. “There was some talks with other teams and trying to get some other stuff going on, but there’s not a lot of opportunities out there,” said Eslick. The deal with Erik Buell Racing “came up here quick in the past couple of weeks. It’s not anything that’s been in the works for the past couple of months. It’s actually happened pretty quickly. “It was on pause of a little while, but he just got some stuff finalized. There will be some stuff announced here shortly with the sponsorship. I can’t talk about that yet, but they’ve got some cool stuff in place. I’m just excited to be riding a Superbike this year and back with Erik Buell Racing.” Eslick won his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship on a Buell 1125R fielded by for Richie Morris Racing in 2009, the inaugural season for the class. And although the roots of the EBR 1190RS can be traced back to the Buell 1125R, Eslick isn’t sure what to expect from the new machine. “I don’t know a lot about it,” said Eslick, “but Geoff [May] has had some pretty good results on it and I think with the two of us working together we can make big strides and really get the bike working good. From talking to different people the potential of the bike is definitely there, but I won’t really know until I get to throw a leg over it and ride it. But I’m definitely excited about riding the 1190RS.” After winning the Daytona SportBike Championship in 2009 and finishing as the Daytona SportBike Championship runner-up while taking the inaugural Vance & Hines XR1200 title in 2010, the 25-year-old Oklahoma rider earned his second Daytona SportBike Championship in 2011. With that third Championship in three years came an urge to move up to the Superbike class, an urge expressed by AMA Pro Road Racing fans but an urge felt most within Eslick. “I’ve been in SportBike and the 600cc classes for a long time, and I’m ready to move to Superbike,” said Eslick. “I’m trying to move up in my career and trying to win Superbike races and along the line Championships. The guys in the class are no slouches. It’s gonna be a big challenge, and I’m looking forward to it.”