- Former sports car racer and team owner Bob Tullius died Monday morning in Port Orange, Fla. He was 95.
Tullius began his racing career as a club racer with a Triumph TR3 in 1961. He went professional in 1963 after Kodak forced him to choose between racing and a sales job. He then won multiple national championships in a Triumph TR4.
In 1965, Tullius founded his own race team, Group 44 Incorporated (often simply referred to as Group 44). This team raced cars and built cars for other teams. Their white cars with light green and dark green stripes were a common sight on race tracks.
The team raced Triumphs into the 1970s, then switched to Jaguar. The team is likely best
remembered for racing the Jaguar XJR-5 and XJR-7 in IMSA in the mid-1980s with drivers such as Hurley Haywood and Brian Redman.
In 1988, the team switched to Trans-Am to race two factory-backed Audi 200s with turbocharged five-cylinder engines. Once the Audi program moved to IMSA's GTO class with the Audi 90, Group 44 moved to NASCAR.
Running the distinctive Group 44 colors on a Pontiac Grand Prix, the team made nine starts in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, mostly with Jim Sauter driving. The team's best finish was ninth at Watkins Glen in 1989.
We at Frontstretch send our condolences to the Tullius family.
- Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Tuesday that Takuma
Sato will return to the team for the Indianapolis 500. He will drive their fourth entry, the No. 75, with sponsorship from Amada America.
Photo is courtesy of IMSA.
