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Wikipedia

Bob Tullius

Robert Charles Tullius was born 7 December 1930 in Rochester, New York. He is best known as a race car driver and racing team owner.

Bob Tullius
NationalityAmerican
Born (1930-12-07) 7 December 1930 (age 94)
Rochester, New York
Years active1961 - 1986

Early years

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Tullius considered a career in teaching after graduating from high school.[1] He served a term in the US Air Force, and while there quarterbacked the Chanute Air Force base football team until a leg injury put an end to his playing.[2]

Tullius took a job in sales with Kodak, first in Rochester and later at Alexandria, Virginia.

In 1960 Tullius bought a Triumph TR3 for his wife.[1] She rarely drove the car. Tullius took the TR3 to racing school himself, and won the graduation race.

Motorsports career

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Tullius' 1975 championship winning Jaguar V-12 E-Type.
 
Tullius' Jaguar XJR-5 at the 1983 IMSA Camel GT race, Sears Point Raceway Sonoma, Calif.

Tullius' racing career began in earnest in 1961, when in his first four races he finished first or second, and won the points championship.[3] For 1962 Tullius asked Triumph to provide him with a TR4 to race, promising to "beat the pants off [their] TR4s with [his] TR3" unless they did.[4] Tullius and Ed Diehl built the proffered TR4 into a racer. Tullius placed second in the TR4 in its first race at Lime Rock, but on its next outing at Lake Garnett, the car was totaled. When Triumph refused to replace the car, Tullius and Diehl bought two more wrecked TR4s and built a replacement car using parts from all three.

The decision to pursue motorsports professionally was made in 1963. His supervisor at Kodak forced Tullius to choose between his day job and racing; Tullius opted for racing. He would soon become the principal driver for Triumph's North American Competition Director Kas Kastner. In 1963 he also appeared in his first 12 Hours of Sebring, and would go on to win six SCCA championship races in the factory TR4.

Group 44

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In 1965 Tullius established his own racing team, named Group 44 Incorporated, to pursue his chosen vocation while supporting his family. Co-founders included mechanic Brian Fuerstenau and New York advertising executive Dick Gilmartin, both of whom were also racing drivers.[5][6] Gilmartin left Group 44 in 1965.[1]

In 1963 the three future founders were sitting in a motel in Sebring working on a name for their team. Gilmartin took a napkin and wrote "Group" on it for the three of them, the "44" was contributed by Tullius, and finally "Incorporated". Tullius originally asked the SCCA for permission to use the number 1 on his cars because it could be applied with a single line of tape, but was denied. "44" was also taken, so he began using "444", and dropped the third numeral later.[1] At Lime Rock, Tullius' wife cut one of the numerals backwards and, lacking a sheet of contact paper to recut it, cut the second "4" in the same way, so that Tullius raced with a reversed "44".[7] He continued to run cars with some numbers reversed after that.

Group 44 developed a three-pronged approach to their business. They raced their own cars, built racing cars for paying customers, and ran an extensive marketing and sponsoring department for vehicle manufacturers and racing teams. The company originally used white with black stripes, but changed the color scheme to include a green stripe when they arranged sponsorship from Quaker State motor oil, a division of Royal Dutch Shell. This sponsorship would last for several decades. The cars were not only well prepared, but immaculately presented.[8][9] The team also used a unique articulated transporter painted in team colors to ferry their cars between races.

Group 44 is exclusively associated with vehicles from British Leyland, initially fielding Triumph TRs and Spitfires and later campaigning models from MG and Jaguar. When Group 44 entered two Jaguar XJR-5 cars in the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was the first time a Jaguar had raced at Le Mans in 27 years.[10] When Group 44 cars traveled to an event their cars would be displayed at the local British Leyland dealers and the team would be promoted through local media.[11] For a time almost all of British Leyland's marketing in the United States went through Group 44.

Group 44 continued to operate until 1990, only shutting down when the last of their sponsorship contracts expired. The team won 14 national SCCA championships and three Trans Am titles. Among the more than 300 race victories there are also eleven successes in IMSA GTP championship races.

Other racing

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Tullius personally raced cars from a wide range of manufacturers, including Alpine, AMC, Chevrolet, Dodge, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Plymouth, Porsche, Ferrari, and Ford.

At the inaugural Trans-Am Sedan Championship race on March 25, 1966 at Sebring, Tullius finished second overall and first in the Over 2.0 Litre class in a Dodge Dart. In the final years of Trans-Am Tullius drove Herb Adams' Gray Ghost Pontiac Tempest.[12]

Tullius drove competitively until 1988, with his final win coming at the 1986 3 Hours of Daytona.[13] He appeared in no fewer than 252 races, winning 38 and posting 43 class wins. In 1965 and 1975 he won the overall standings of the SCCA Championships and in 1977 and 1978, the overall ratings of the category I of the Trans Am Series. In the 1983 IMSA GTP series he finished in second place behind Al Holbert.[14] Three times he was on the pole of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he also won the 1985 GTP class with a 13th-place finish. His best showing at Sebring was a fourth place in 1985.

Post-racing

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Tullius bought the last TR6 and last TR8 built by British Leyland when production ended.[1]

In 1969 he developed an interest in aviation which he continued to pursue after retiring from racing. He became a World War II airplane enthusiast, and participated in several Warbird Air Shows.[15] He also took part in the Young Eagles program operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

His personal hangar in Sebring, Florida held several of his own aircraft.[16] Among them were a North American T-6 Texan, a Fairchild PT-26A, a Waco ZPF-6 biplane and a Beechcraft King Air twin in which he had logged several thousand hours of pilot-in-command time. Tullius also owned a Mustang P-51D, which he donated to the Royal Air Force Museum.[17] Other planes reported to have been in the hangar were a Stearman and a North American T-28 Trojan.[18] A selection of original Group 44 cars shared space in the hangar with the planes.

Personal life

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In 1972 Tullius was in Bangkok visiting a friend when he was struck in the street by a chauffeur-driven car and injured.[1]

Tullius had a son and a daughter.[19] His son, Russel, died on 4 November 2021, at age 62.[20]

Honors

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  • Tullius was inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame in 2014.[21]
  • He became a member of the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2015.[22]
  • He entered the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in 2017.[23]
  • In 2018, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.[24][8]

Racing record

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Le Mans results

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Year Team Car Teammate Teammate Placement Cause of retirement
1964   United Kingdom Triumph Motor Company Triumph Spitfire   United States Michael Rothschild DNF Accident
1968   United States Howmet Castings Howmet TX   United Kingdom Hugh Dibley Disqualified
1984   United States Jaguar Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5   United States Doc Bundy   United Kingdom Brian Redman DNF Transmission failure
1985   United States Jaguar Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5   France Claude Ballot-Léna   United States Chip Robinson 13th, Class win

Sebring results

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Year Team Car Teammate Teammate Placement Cause of retirement
1963   United Kingdom Triumph Motor Company Triumph TR4   United States Bruce Kellner   United States Lew Spencer 32nd
1964   United States Autosport International Alpine M63   United States Ray Cuomo DNF Transmission failure
1965   United Kingdom Triumph Motor Company Triumph Spitfire   United States Charlie Gates 30th
1966   United Kingdom Triumph Motor Company Triumph TR4A   United States Charlie Gates DNF Engine failure
1968   United Kingdom British Leyland Triumph TR250K   United States Jim Dittemore DNF Suspension
1969   United States Wilton Jowett Chevrolet Camaro   United States Wilton Jowett 45th
1970   United States Bruce Jennings Porsche 911T   United States Bruce Jennings DNF Engine failure
1973   United States Murray Racing Team Chevrolet Corvette   United States Ike Knupp DNF Engine failure
1980   United States Group 44 Triumph TR8   Canada Bill Adam 6th, Class win
1981   United States Group 44 Triumph TR8   Canada Bill Adam 10th
1983   United States Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5   Canada Bill Adam DNF Engine failure
1984   United States Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5   United States Doc Bundy DNF Ignition damage
1985   United States Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5   United States Chip Robinson 4th
1986   United States Group 44 Jaguar XJR-7   United States Chip Robinson   France Claude Ballot-Léna DNF Oil pump

World Sportscar Championship results

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Season Team Race car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
1963 Standard Motor Company Triumph TR4 DAY SEB SEB TAR SPA MAI NÜR CON ROS LEM MON WIS TAV FRE CCE RTT OVI NÜR MON MON TDF BRI
32
1964 Autosport International
Standard Motor Company 		Alpine M63
Triumph Spitfire 		DAY SEB TAR MON SPA CON NÜR ROS LEM REI FRE CCE RTT SIM NÜR MON TDF BRI BRI PAR
DNF DNF
1965 Harley Cunningham
Standard Triumph 		Ford Cortina
Triumph Spitfire 		DAY SEB BOL MON MON RTT TAR SPA NÜR MUG ROS LEM RIE BOZ FRE CCE OVI NÜR BRI BRI
DNF 30
1966 Standard Triumph Triumph TR4 DAY SEB MON TAR SPA NÜR LEM MUG CCE HOK SIM NÜR ZEL
DNF
1968 Leyland
Howmet 		Triumph TR5
Howmet TX 		DAY SEB BRH MON TAR NÜR SPA WAT ZEL LMS
DNF 12 DNF
1969 Wilton Jowett Chevrolet Camaro DAY SEB BRH MON TAR SPA NÜR LMS GLN ÖST
45
1970 Toad Hall Racing
Bruce Jennings 		Porsche 911 DAY SEB BRH MON TAR SPA NÜR LMS GLN ÖST
DNF DNF 13
1971 John McComb Ford Mustang BUE DAY SEB BRH MON SPA TAR NÜR LMS ÖST GLN
DNF
1977 Group 44 Jaguar XJS DAY MUG DIJ MON SIL NÜR VAL PER WAT EST LEC MOS IMO SAL BRH HOK VAL
14 3
1978 Group 44 Jaguar XJS DAY SEB MUG TAL DIJ SIL NÜR LEM MIS DAY WAT VAL ROD
7
1979 NART
JRT
Group 44 		Ferrari 512 BB
Triumph TR8 		DAY SEB MUG TAL DIJ RIV SIL NÜR LEM PER DAY WAT SPA BRH ROA VAL ELS
57 7 6
1980 Group 44
JRT 		Triumph TR8 DAY BRH SEB MUG MON RIV SIL NÜR LMS DAY WAT SPA MOS VAL RAM DIJ
52 6 26 8 7
1981 Group 44 Triumph TR8 DAY SEB MUG MON RSD SIL NÜR LMS PER DAY GLN SPA MOS ROA BRH
10
1984 Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 MON SIL LMS NÜR BRH MOS SPA IMO FUJ KYA SAN
DNF
1985 Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 MUG MON SIL LMS HOC MOS SPA BRH FUJ SHA
13

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Knowles, David (15 July 2016). Triumph TR6: The Complete Story. The Crowood Press UK. ISBN 978-1785001376.
  2. ^ "Bob Tullius: A Racer with a Habit of Success". Brainerd Daily Dispatch. 12 July 1974. p. 28.
  3. ^ Mangan, Kathleen M. (5 April 2009). "Bob Tullius, Group 44 Inc". www.mossmotoring.com.
  4. ^ Cook, Michael (26 October 2001). Triumph Cars in America. Motorbooks. ISBN 978-0760301654.
  5. ^ "Brian Fuerstenau, United States".
  6. ^ "Dick Gilmartin, United States".
  7. ^ Donnelly, Jim (January 2013). "4 + 4 adds up to 1 (as in first)". www.hemmings.com.
  8. ^ a b "Bob Tullius, Sports Cars, Class of 2018". www.mshf.com.
  9. ^ Egan, Peter (25 September 2012). "Sanitation and the Racing Car". www.roadandtrack.com.
  10. ^ Riom, Pierre-Yves (4 January 2015). "24 Hours of Le Mans - The Jaguar XJR-5 of Group 44". www.lemans.org.
  11. ^ "Bob Tullius". www.scca.com.
  12. ^ Garrett, Mike (22 August 2016). "The Gray Ghost Rides Again". www.speedhunters.com.
  13. ^ www.racingsportscars.com
  14. ^ "International Motor Sport Association 1983".
  15. ^ "Bob Tullius: Racing legend". www.coventryfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  16. ^ Smith, Steven Cole (13 March 2012). "Sebring Feature: Bob Tullius's good life after sports cars". autoweek.com.
  17. ^ "North American P-51D Mustang". www.rafmuseum.org.uk.
  18. ^ Goyer, Robert (April 1997). "Jaguar takes to the airways". Flying. p. 74.
  19. ^ "Sports car legend Tullius inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame of America". racer.com. 14 March 2018.
  20. ^ Wallens, David S. (11 November 2021). "Russel Tullius, Group 44 insider, passes at 62". classicmotorsports.com.
  21. ^ "Latest News - Sebring Hall of Fame Class of 2014 Announced". www.sebringraceway.com. 23 December 2013.
  22. ^ "Five famous names added to the roster". www.motorsport.com. 10 December 2014.
  23. ^ Carnell, Michael (7 April 2017). "British Sports Car Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony". justbritish.com.
  24. ^ "MSHFA Riding Momentum of 2018 Induction Ceremony". www.mshf.com. 27 March 2018.

Further reading

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  • Breslauer, Ken (1995). Sebring - The official History of America's Great Sports Car Race. Cambridge MA: David Bull. ISBN 0-9649722-0-4.
  • Higham, Peter (1995). The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing - A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-642-1.
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