When Matt Roselli debuted his new TQ midget at the Allentown Indoor Auto Race, it certainly lit up conversation. TQ midgets typically place the engine on the left, but Roselli had his on the right. Armchair racers lit up social media with comments.
“When you let an AI generator plan your indoor build.”
“If it loses, it’s junk, if it wins, they cheated.”
“Such a breath of fresh air to see innovating instead of store bought, cookie cutter, manufactured cars.”
Roselli’s reason for moving the engine to the right was more practical than anything.
“I’m a big guy — I weigh more than the engine and drivetrain,” Roselli, of Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, said. “We were just looking for left-side percentage.”
Roselli collaborated with TQ car builder Mark Lafler, of Ransomville, New York, to construct the car. Some onlookers thought his car measured wider than the rest of the field.
“It’s within the maximum tread width and wheelbase,” said Roselli. “What everyone sees is an optical illusion. The driver sitting where the motor usually is changes the whole perspective of the car.”
When someone quipped that Roselli’s car was an $80,000 machine built for two weekends of racing, he took exception.
“Out of nowhere, that guy came up with those numbers,” Roselli said. “Truth is that the majority of my car is built from stuff I already owned. It’s the same motor, drivetrain, suspension, and bolt-on components from my other cars. It cost no more than any other TQ out there.”
Roselli shook the car down at a go-kart track in Pennsylvania prior to competing at Allentown.
“The first time I drove it, I found it to react like any other TQ,” said Roselli. “Sitting in it, you have a whole different view of the race. It took me a while to get used to the peripheral vision from the left side.”
On the first lap of the heat race on Friday at Allentown, a steering column failure caused Matt Roselli to jump a tire.
“Saturday, we made gains all day,” Roselli said. “We were learning the setup without any prior notebook to work with. We started seventh in the B-main, got up to third, and then got punted. A brake line broke and that ended our weekend.”
Matt Roselli will return with his unique TQ midget later this month at the Atlantic City Indoor Midget Car Race.
“If we get it rolling, it will inspire others to try different things,” said Roselli. “Racing is about innovating and having fun. We did just that this weekend.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
