GRAND MARSHAL BOB TULLIUS


couRtesy JeRemy sale


CHgp grAnd mArsHAl BoB tullius Ctmp Holds A speCiAl plACe in group 44 inC. teAm oWner And driVer’s HeArt


By Jeremy Sale “I have often categorized [Canadian Tire


Motorsport Park] as the most exciting and challenging track of all,“ says Bob Tullius. “In fact, it is my personal favourite. Having won six out of the seven times that I raced there may have something to do with my affection for the place, however!”


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ARAC is delighted to welcome Bob Tullius as our Grand Marshal for the 2014 Cana-


dian Historic Grand Prix. Bob will be the special guest and speaker at the banquet and as part of the Legends of Mosport Panel. He will also lead the Car Show Parade, be a colour com- mentator on the PA during the weekend and present the Feature Race Awards. Chatting with Tullius, he says he “won the


very first race I ever ran; at a 1961 driving school in my Triumph TR3, and I won the last race I ran; in 1986 driving my Jaguar XJR-7 at Daytona.”


12 •WWW.CAnAdiAnHistoriCgrAndprix.Com Nice bookends to an extensive career, in


which Tullius accomplished a great deal on courses as varied as Le Mans, all the great Trans-Am race courses, including Sebring, Watkins Glen, Daytona, Riverside, Laguna Seca and St. Jovite, but he counts Canadian Tire Mo- torsport Park as his favourite. Though much of his success was for British Leyland, in Triumphs and Jaguars, he was also one of a handful of drivers to race turbine powered cars, appearing at Le Mans and Watkins Glen in the Howmet TX turbine sports racing car prototype with BOAC pilot Hugh Dibley. Tullius was a pioneer in the concept of pro-


fessional motorsports, with his immaculately prepared race cars and transporters. He had an enviable winning record and many champi- onships, recording 38 overall wins and an ad- ditional 42 class wins. His original Group 44 Inc. team, with driver Dick Gilmartin and engi- neer/driver Brian Fuerstenau was formed in


Falls Church, Virginia, in 1965. The team went on to accomplish numerous SCCA titles, Trans- Am championships and IMSA race wins. His sponsors included Quaker State for 18


years and Goodyear for 28 years. “We did it by delivering results” says Tullius, “If I got a dollar from a sponsor I made sure they got a dollar and half’s worth of value back”. His race career started when Tullius bought


a Triumph TR-3 and later decided to take it to a driving school. He then began racing the car and was successful enough that, while on a business trip to New York City, he introduced himself to Triumph’s PR director Mike Cook, and asked for factory assistance. In 1962 he was doing well enough that he went back to Triumph headquarters to pitch them on the idea that, as national points leader, he should be driving the newest Triumph, the TR4. Tri- umph agreed, but it was a deal to take the car and pay later. This sounded pretty good to Tul-


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