GRAND MARSHAL BOB TULLIUS
R. haRRington PhotogRaPhy Canadian Bill Adam, co-driving with Tullius and Gordon Smiley raced the XJR-4 (above) in the 1982 24 Hours at Daytona, becoming the first V12 powered Jaguar to complete a 24 hour
endurance race. (Below) The Triumph TR6 was the last of three six cylinder roadsters built by Group 44. Bob Tullius, and others, won six SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta, four in class C Pro- duction and two in D Production. Film star Paul Newman drove the car in 1976. The car is now owned and raced by Bill Warner, Founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours.
...Continued from Page 13 The Group 44 team sat down and figured
out that with no ballast and a full fuel tank the car would weigh-in the same as with 400 pounds of penalty ballast but no fuel, so they presented the car to tech without the ballast but with a full tank, thus meeting the required weight. Then, leading the race by a huge mar- gin, Tullius pulled in with just three laps to go and filled the fuel tank to the brim, went back out and won the race. The car met the post race weigh-in, thanks to the extra fuel. Tullius ran Trans-Am with great success with
the Triumphs and in a string of Jaguars, the XkE, the XJS, XJR-5 and XJR-7. His teammates over the years have included Tony Adamowicz, “Doc” Bundy, David Hobbs, Brian Redman, Chip Robinson, Hurley Haywood and Canadian Bill Adam. Tullius and Adam competed against each other at CTMP in a Trans-Am race; Adam was on pole in a Corvette, Tullius with the XJS. Tullius was unable to get past the Corvette until about halfway through the race. “Bill made just one mistake and it was
enough for me to get by,” said Tullius. “On the podium I said to Bill if I ever get a chance to have a second driver in my TR8, I want you to be the guy. Bill was a very good driver.” The two co-drove 20 times, winning the six-
hour race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 1983 in the XJR-5, as well as victories at Pocono, Lime Rock and Road Atlanta. “Another Canadian friend and former com-
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WWW.CAnAdiAnHistoriCgrAndprix.Com
petitor is Eppie Wietzes,” says Tullius. “I re- member him winning the Trans-Am in his Corvette at Trois-Rivières in ’81, we came back and won the next weekend at [Canadian Tire Motorsport Park], a great guy! I hope we get together this weekend.” Tullius lives in Sebring, FL, where he made
his first of 14 starts at Sebring in 1963 at the wheel of a Triumph TR-4; he later won the GTO category there in his Group 44 TR-8 and fin-
ished fourth overall in 1985 driving his Jaguar GTP prototype. He has been inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame. His office is located in an aircraft hanger, a
few yards from the track. The hanger contains his collection of Group 44 cars and his planes. His North American Mustang P51D, acquired for his 60th birthday and which he flew for 13 years at air shows he later donated to the Royal Air Force Museum, London. •
sean smith
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