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Bob Tullius
Robert Charles Tullius (December 7, 1930 – March 16, 2026) was an American race car driver and racing team owner.
Tullius considered a career in teaching after graduating from high school. He served a term in the U.S. Air Force, and while there quarterbacked the Chanute Air Force base football team until a leg injury put an end to his playing.
Tullius took a job in sales with Kodak, first in Rochester, New York and later in Alexandria, Virginia.
In 1960, Tullius bought a Triumph TR3 for his wife. She rarely drove the car. Tullius took the TR3 to racing school himself, and won the graduation race.
Tullius' racing career began in earnest in 1961, when in his first four races he finished first or second, and won the points championship. 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. 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.
His 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 soon became the principal driver for Triumph's North American Competition Director Kas Kastner. In 1963 he also raced in his first 12 Hours of Sebring, and went on to win six SCCA championship races in the factory TR4.
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 race drivers. Gilmartin left Group 44 in 1965.
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. 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". He continued to run cars with some numbers reversed after that.
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Bob Tullius
Robert Charles Tullius (December 7, 1930 – March 16, 2026) was an American race car driver and racing team owner.
Tullius considered a career in teaching after graduating from high school. He served a term in the U.S. Air Force, and while there quarterbacked the Chanute Air Force base football team until a leg injury put an end to his playing.
Tullius took a job in sales with Kodak, first in Rochester, New York and later in Alexandria, Virginia.
In 1960, Tullius bought a Triumph TR3 for his wife. She rarely drove the car. Tullius took the TR3 to racing school himself, and won the graduation race.
Tullius' racing career began in earnest in 1961, when in his first four races he finished first or second, and won the points championship. 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. 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.
His 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 soon became the principal driver for Triumph's North American Competition Director Kas Kastner. In 1963 he also raced in his first 12 Hours of Sebring, and went on to win six SCCA championship races in the factory TR4.
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 race drivers. Gilmartin left Group 44 in 1965.
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. 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". He continued to run cars with some numbers reversed after that.