Girls Are Leading the Charge in the Bandolero Division at Riverhead Raceway

Madison Tomaszewski readily admits that she’s a daredevil.

The 16-year-old Mattituck resident gets her thrills in a number of different ways — last year, during a trip to Las Vegas, she did the SkyJump at the Stratosphere hotel, strapping on a fly suit and bungee cable to jump off the building’s 108th floor, a descent — described on its website as “controlled” — of more than 800 feet.

During an interview in June, she also reminded her mother, Michelle Tomaszewski, about another upcoming event on her schedule: She’ll be flying a plane for the first time at the end of the month.

The place where Tomaszewski goes most frequently to get her kicks, however, is the Riverhead Raceway.

Since she was 14, Tomaszewski has competed in the Outlaw level of the Bandolero division at the raceway. Bandoleros are small cars that serve as a kind of bridge to real racecar driving and are suitable for children to compete in, much like Go-Karts.

Tomaszewski is one of many young drivers, ranging in age from 7 up to the teen years, in the three levels of the Bandolero division competing at Riverhead Raceway, and she is one of a large number of female drivers in the ranks. The division has grown steadily in popularity since it was introduced at the raceway in 2021, but another phenomenon has been its explosion in popularity for female drivers.

It has been a noteworthy development in a sport that, at all ages and levels, still tends to be overwhelmingly male.

For the girls and young women who compete in the Bandolero division at Riverhead, racing cars is simply something they share in common and love to do. They don’t ruminate as much on the idea of their gender when it comes to talking about the sport or their presence in it. And for the most part, neither do their fellow competitors.

The moments where gender is an issue are few and far between, they say, although not entirely nonexistent.

Tomaszewski said she’s only had one experience where she was “raced differently” because she’s a girl.

She handled the situation in a way that seems to be in keeping with her personality.

“I got targeted and pushed around a little, in my first year,” she said. When Tomaszewski started off, she was thrown into the Outlaws, the highest division, right away because the beginner and intermediate (Bandits) divisions had not yet been established. The learning curve was steep, she said, but ultimately helped her to learn quickly. “There was a driver who didn’t think I was doing that good, because I was a girl. He tried putting me in the way and whatever.”

She paused, seemingly hesitant to provide all the remaining details of the story. “He didn’t finish the race and I did, so it was OK,” she finished, with a laugh. “Then he never messed with me again.

“We became friends,” she added. “Well, not friends, but we’re friendly now, so it’s OK.”

Not every girl who competes in the Bandolero division has the same daredevil personality as Tomaszewski. Some are quieter or more shy than others; for many of them, racing is just one thing they do. On any given week, they might be at the racetrack one day, donning a suit and helmet before getting into their cars, while on another day, they’re grabbing pom-poms and heading to cheerleading practice, putting on a leotard and going to gymnastics, and grabbing a bat and mitt and heading to a softball game.

What they share in common is a love for the sport that was born out of family tradition. Almost every girl competing in the Bandolero division has a parent by their side — usually a dad — who is guiding them, helping them work on their car on weekends, get it to the track, giving them advice, and helping them suit up and get out there. Once their daughters are behind the wheel, the parents have to simply sit and watch, and share in their common experience — handling their collective nerves together — as their daughters drive the cars, which can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour. Maybe not an anxiety-inducing number when an adult is behind the wheel, but when it’s your own child, still years away from qualifying for a learner’s permit, 60 can feel awfully fast.

Tomaszewski’s uncle raced in the Chargers division at Riverhead Raceway for many years, and her father, Zac, is a lifelong NASCAR fan.

Her mother, Michelle, is proud of her daughter, but admitted to feelings many other mothers expressed.

“It’s very nerve-wracking,” she said. “We will never stop getting nervous every time she suits up. But it’s very exciting as well.”

Melanie Dumicich of East Quogue knows that feeling very well. Her daughter Scarlett, 8, competes in the Bandolero beginner division. Scarlett is the third-generation racer in her family. Her father, Frank Dumicich Jr., and her grandfather, Frank Dumicich, are veterans of Riverhead Raceway, and her aunt Erin (Dumicich) Solomito still competes regularly.

Scarlett has been at racetracks since she was a toddler, going along with her family to watch her father race at tracks from New Hampshire to South Carolina.

When Scarlett was just 7, she told her parents she wanted to race. She was indecisive at first, but before long was determined to follow in the footsteps of her father, grandfather and aunt. (Her other grandfather, Melanie’s dad, Doug Trumpa, and Melanie’s brother-in-law and two nephews also race, so it’s in her blood from both sides of the family.)

Frank Jr. bought a car for Scarlett from a friend whose daughter had done precisely 10 laps in it and then called it quits.

“I asked if we could borrow it and see if she wanted to do it,” Frank Jr. said. “She ran two races last year and fell in love with it, and we bought it. Whenever she gets out of the car, she has a big smile on her face.”

Scarlett is one of five girls competing in the beginner division alone.

Scarlett still gets nervous on Saturday mornings before her practice laps and then the race later in the day. They all get nervous, Melanie said. But the nerves never seem to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm.

“She asks me every Saturday night, ‘Am I racing this weekend?’” Frank Jr. said. “When it gets rained out, she’s bummed.”

Scarlett’s #17 car has been redesigned from its original teal, pink, purple and blue body with a dark blue, white and silver color theme, a nod to Scarlett’s sponsor, Rapid Recovery. Frank Jr., who works for Rapid Recovery, said he’s thankful to the company for their support of Scarlett’s racing career.

“We couldn’t do it without him helping,” he said of his boss.

Scarlett, who also plays softball and does competitive gymnastics, is steadily gaining experience, and her dad isn’t afraid to provide a little extra motivation from time to time.

“In her last race, her dad told her that if she stays on the lead lap, he’d give her $100,” Melanie said, with a laugh. “But she had to finish in the top five.”

Scarlett did just that. She spent her earnings on a Stitch Squishmallow and treated the family to McDonald’s.

Like Michelle Tomaszewski, Melanie admits that watching her third-grader get behind the wheel of a car and race against other kids makes her heart beat faster — to say the least.

“Every time she races, I feel like I’m going to pass out or throw up,” she said.

Scarlett chimed in, “It’s kind of funny.”

Frank Jr. stays calm, accustomed to the emotions that accompany racing after doing it himself for so many years. He’s also the one on the radio with Scarlett, so he has to stay calm, he said.

The sport requires a lot of support from parents and others. In addition to racing and practicing, there’s also the off-the-track work that goes into maintaining the car and keeping it in good working order.

For many of the girls racing in the Bandolero division, their father is their right-hand man, so to speak. That’s the case for Madison White. The 13-year-old rising Tuckahoe School eighth-grader races not only at Riverhead but at plenty of other tracks around the country. In June, she was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where she will compete as part of the Summer Shootout Series, and has competed at tracks upstate as well. (Her presence at a lot of other tracks was partly due to a temporary suspension her father had from competing at Riverhead Raceway, he said, which barred him from being on the property.)

“My dad got me into the racing thing,” Madison said. “He’s been doing it since I was born. I always went to the track to watch him race, and when I was 8, I saw the Bandoleros at Riverhead and I wanted to start doing them. It looked fun and like something kids would be able to do.”

The Bandoleros are small and can be likened to a go-kart with fiberglass. They’re no more than 10 feet from bumper to bumper, with a wheelbase around 70 inches, and they’re about 48 inches wide. But that doesn’t mean they’re easy to drive.

They only have springs and shocks in the back — the front is solid suspension. They don’t have power steering, and the drivers enter the car through an open hatch on the roof, sliding in feet first.

“There’s a lot to learn with them,” Jimmy White said. “They’re very bouncy, and not easy to control.”

Madison, who also plays basketball and softball, said learning how to race was intimidating at first, but that faded over time.

“I started getting a lot better and started winning, and that got me determined,” she said. “It gave me the confidence to want to keep doing it.”

White narrowly missed out on being the first female driver to win the state championship in the Bandolero division last year, losing out to the eventual winner — also a female — by just two points.

She’s gunning for the title this year.

Older drivers like Madison White and Madison Tomaszewski are an inspiration for the younger drivers, and all the parents agree that what they love most about having their daughters involved are the friendships they make and the family-style atmosphere that prevails at the track.

“They all really support each other,” Melanie Dumicich said. “The adults that race on Saturday night can really take some advice from the young kids that all go up to each other after the race and say, ‘You did an awesome job.’ They’re all friends and they all hang out together, and they all want each other to do good.”

Racing is a family tradition for McKenzie Ulmet, too. She’s a fifth-grader at Cutchogue East Elementary School and comes from several generations of competitive drivers who race at Riverhead. Last year, her grandfather, Wes Zaleski, bought her a car. He’s at their house almost every day working on it, and McKenzie is often right there with him.

She started last year in the beginner division, and after finishing second in points, moved up to the Bandits division this year.

Finishing second and moving up a division was gratifying, but McKenzie isn’t in it for the wins.

“I just like getting in my car and driving,” she said. “I don’t care if I win or lose; I just love driving.”

Her mom, Kristin Ulmet, loves watching her daughter race and carry on the family tradition.

“It’s definitely terrifying for me to watch her be out on the track, but when I see her get out of the car, she’s always so excited to be there,” she said. “And there are more and more girls joining every year. It’s really interesting to me, and I think it’s so cool, especially nowadays, for our young daughters. We have to support them in every way possible, no matter what sport it is.”

Tom Gatz, a Wading River resident, is the owner of Riverhead Raceway. He purchased the track, along with his aunt and uncle, Connie and Eddie Partridge, in 2015.

Gatz didn’t race himself, but his uncle, who died in 2021 and whom he was very close to, was big into racing. Gatz said he was more interested in buying the raceway as a business venture, but it’s clear in listening to him speak about it that he’s passionate as well. His daughters, Emily, 11, and Alexis, 9, also compete in the Bandolero division.

He spoke about why the Bandolero division has been so popular and successful.

“It’s like a feeder division,” he said. “Somewhere for the kids to get involved and see how they grow throughout the years.”

John Ellwood, the general manager at the raceway, chimed in with his boisterous personality when it was asked who made the decision to add the division.

“Well, of course, it was my idea,” he said with a laugh.

A big advantage to having the Bandoleros as opposed to go-karts — the traditional bridge to actual race cars — is the fact that the Bandoleros can get in on the Saturday night racing action, which was not the case for the go-karts.

“We wanted the kids to be in front of the audience,” Ellwood said. “The go-karts ran on different days, and it wasn’t fan-based. This is pretty cool, to have your sponsors and marketing people help you come to the track and actually watch you and have fun.”

The kids who win in their division get to make victory speeches on the microphone after the race, which is appealing to some, nerve-wracking to others.

Either way, it gives the young drivers a chance to publicly acknowledge all the work that goes into a racing career, even at the earliest stages.

“Racing is a family sport,” Ellwood said. “It’s a family business. It takes a lot. It’s not just a hat and a baseball or soccer ball. It’s the cars, the trailers. It takes a lot of effort, so it’s a commitment for all the families. And it’s very family-oriented. It’s a special thing.”

Both Emily and Alexis said they’re “very grateful” to their father for giving them the opportunity to race. They gave Ellwood a shoutout as well.

“We love you too, John,” they said. “And you have good ice cream at the racetrack.”