Colchester girl, 13, is rewriting racing records at Speedbowl

— Two racing fans were overheard at the Waterford Speedbowl last summer as trucks rolled out for practice.

“You see that No. 99 truck?” the one fellow asked the other. “Yeah.”

“That’s a 12-year-old girl.” “There’s no way in hell.” “That’s a 12-year-old girl.” “She just passed my kid, and he’s in his 30s. I don’t believe it!”

The No. 99 truck pulled into pit row and the driver scampered out. A braided pony tail bobbed as the racing helmet came off. A pair of No. 99 earrings glittered below matching studs. A No. 99 necklace dangled next to a cross and beneath two chokers.

“Holy crap! That’s a 12-yearold girl.”

Glenn Shilosky of Colchester overheard those two men. They were talking about his only child, Milania.

It’s a year later and, in many ways, Milania Shilosky is a typical 13-year-old girl. She just completed seventh grade at William J. Johnson Middle School.

She plays flute and clarinet in the school band and she likes to draw. She likes wearing dresses and she does nails with her mom Stacy. Her braces come off next month.

But she’s scrappy, too. She attained a purple belt in jujitsu and the Israeli martial arts form of Krav Maga.

She’s an exceptional archer. Competing in the U.S. Junior Olympic program, Milania has won four state championships, three regional and New England championships and, in 2022, the national Junior Olympic crown.

A country girl, she rides horses, though her mustang, Joseph, can be a handful. He’ll throw you if you’re not careful.

It’s handling horsepower of another sort that sets Milania even further apart. That No. 99 truck she now drives every Saturday night carries 382 horsepower and nearly 3,000 pounds and can approach 100 mph even in the tight confines of the Waterford Speedbowl.

Milania has moved up to the Truck Division full time this year, as well as the Wednesday night Legends Division, after dominating the Bandolero Division and rewriting the Speedbowl record book.

‘They don’t scare me’

In leaving the little Bandoleros behind, Milania has essentially gone from kid racing to grown-up racing. The trucks are full-size and the Legends, though fifth-eighths the size of regular cars, also require shifting and braking, and lack power steering.

The Shiloskys have also journeyed to Charlotte, N.C., to make overtures to NASCAR developmental teams.

It’s a significant leap forward for any racer, let alone for one so young, let alone for a girl in a sport dominated by men.

“13-year-old, right? A girl. We’ve battled that since she was 5 in go-karts,” Glenn Shilosky says.

Milania, for her part, is not intimidated by drivers longer in the tooth or deeper in voice. As much as she listens and learns from older and more experienced drivers, she’s not going to get pushed around.

“Yeah, they don’t scare me,” she says. “Never have. Can’t let ‘em get to you, otherwise you won’t succeed.”

And, bottom line, success is what it’s all about for Milania. Glenn describes his daughter as “probably the most driven 13-year-old for perfection you’ll ever meet.”

“The more we challenge her, the stronger she gets, whether it’s school, archery,” Glenn said. “The challenges we put her through, she has this knack to exceed it. It’s a lot of pressure for a 13-year-old kid, but she handles it so well. She thrives on it. If it’s not going the way she wants, she’ll work harder to make it what she wants.”

The jump to trucks and Legends has not been easy. A year after going a record 10-for-11 in Bandolero races, Milania has yet to win in 2024.

However, she has finished in the top 10 in three of four Legends races and in six of seven truck duels.

She’s also bounced back from a wreck that was one of the worst Speedbowl veterans say they’ve seen as far as impact goes. On the night of June 15, Milania went into the concrete wall so hard it shook.

The truck was totaled and Milania was shaken up enough to be taken out in a stretcher.

Suffering from nothing worse than a cut knee, Milania returned home that night and sized it up. The HANS safety device, which all racing vehicles now have, had done what it was supposed to do. With its five-point harness, it had supported and protected her head and neck.

“I know it’s safe — especially after that — and I’m fine,” Milania said. “I know I’m safe to go back in.”

The truck was another matter. It took Glenn and his crew, headed by the Speedbowl’s legendary Late Model driver Phil Rondeau, a good two weeks to rebuild it in the Shilosky garage.

By June 29, when truck racing resumed at the Speedbowl, No. 99 was ready to roll, though there was a sense of held breath among extended family members on hand to watch — grandparents, aunts, uncles and, most especially, her mother.

“I don’t think I’ve gotten over it still,” said Stacy, who was listening in on Glenn and Milania’s race radio feed as the crash unfolded. “I won’t lie. It was terrifying for me. I can only hear her; I can’t talk to her. I know her. She’s so strong, so tough, but I can sense in the tone of her voice that she’s hurt.

“Just not really knowing what might be wrong: It keeps playing in my head,” Stacy added. “But she’s ready to go, so I’ll be ready to be her biggest cheerleader as always, and I know she’ll be OK.”

Starting on go-karts

Milania Shilosky’s racing origin story dates back to age 4. She and Glenn went to the Speedbowl one night. When the Legends came onto the track, Milania perked up.

“Daddy, I want to drive that little blue car.”

“You want to race?” “Yeah, I want to race.” So Milania started where pretty much all racers start: go-karts. At age 9, she graduated to Bandoleros, an entry-level specialized racing car.

She was not an overnight success, either. In her first kart race, Milania failed to turn and immediately crashed into the wall.

That first season in Bandos? “We got our butts handed to us,” Milania reports.

But the little girl was dogged, and she learned fast. After crashing in her first kart race, Milania simply refueled.

“My dad thought, ‘We’re done; we might as well go home; she’s not going to want to do it.’ I had lunch and went back out.”

After the first season in Bandoleros, Glenn and the crew were in the garage all winter, and Milania saw how wins were born in the shop.

Victories accrued in both divisions — more than 30 in karts, 26 at various tracks in Bandoleros.

At the Speedbowl, Milania shredded the record book. She won track championships in Bandoleros in 2022 and 2023.

By the end of 2022, at age 11, she was already the Bowl’s winningest female driver ever. By the end of 2023, she had won more Bando races (23) than anybody, boy or girl.

The Bowl has seen its share of female standouts, albeit only recently in a history that dates back to 1951.

■ 2010: Taylor Martin, at age 13, became the track’s first female season champion, winning the Bandolero Division; she repeated in 2011.

■ 2018: Maddie Harkin was Bandolero season champ and Madelyn Hovey was the division’s Rookie of the Year.

■ 2022: Emma Monahan drove off with the Truck championship.

Milania is the one with the records. She was so good in 2023 that she won 10 of 11 Bandolero races, including eight to open the season. Both are division records at the Bowl. The 90.9 winning percentage ranks No. 1 all-time in Waterford in all divisions.