TriumphTR6

Bob Tullius and the Triumph TR6

Group 44's founder raced its TR-6 in the eastern United States from 1969 to 1974, winning often in the national races and never quite at the championship, took it to London for the TR's 20th anniversary, and, by Severson's account, ended up with the last TR6 of all.

About the pictureA TR6 at a track day in 2014, not his car and not a picture of him

A dark blue Triumph TR6 with a hardtop and white stripes, number 234, at speed on the Nuerburgring.
Stand-in Standing in for a racing TR6 of the 1970s: a dark blue TR6 with a hardtop, number 234, at a Nürburgring track day in 2014.Justin LaBerge, CC BY 2.0

In August 1970 the importer's newsletter said of Bob Tullius that he "has now compiled more national championship wins than any other driver in the country". Much of that winning had been done in Triumphs, and from 1969 the car was Group 44's TR-6, entered in C Production, one of the Sports Car Club of America's classes for production cars, with Quaker State's backing. What the class's championship race gave him, and what it did not, his results below show.⁠1​2​3

In the TR6, 1969–76

Sources for Bob Tullius

Moss Motoring, "Bob Tullius, Group 44 Inc.", 5 Apr 2009⁠1; Moss Motoring, "Press Release: British Sports Car Hall of Fame", 20 Mar 2017⁠4; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1962, Jun 1962⁠5; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1962, Sep–Oct 1962 (vol. 8 nos. 9 and 10)⁠6; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1963, Sep 1963 (vol. 9 no. 8)⁠7; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, March 1964, Mar 1964 (vol. 10 no. 3)⁠8; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1964, Nov 1964⁠9; Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 1: TR4 and TR4A", Ate Up With Motor, 22 Oct 2012⁠10; racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1963, results⁠11; racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1966, results⁠12; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1968, Sep 1968 (vol. 14 no. 9)⁠13; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1968, Dec 1968 (masthead "Volume 14, Number 11")⁠14; racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR250 – All Results"⁠15; racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1968, results⁠16; racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR6 – All Results"⁠3; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1972, Dec 1972 (vol. 18 no. 12)⁠17; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1972, Nov 1972 (vol. 18 no. 11)⁠18; Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012⁠19; Aaron Severson, "Way of the Wedge: The Triumph TR7 and TR8", Ate Up With Motor, 5 Feb 2012, pp. 1–5⁠20; Michael L. Cook, "1981 Triumph TR8: Fast and Last", Special Interest Autos, no. 156, Nov–Dec 1996, pp. 10–17⁠21; Don Sherman, "Triumph TR8" (road test), Car and Driver, Aug 1980, pp. 36–40⁠22; racingsportscars.com, "All Results of Triumph TR8" (1979–1999)⁠23; Michael Lamm, "1st Drive in the Triumph TR8", British Car, Feb–Mar 1999, pp. 46–48⁠24; Classic & Sports Car, RIP Bob Tullius 1930-2026, Jack Phillips, 19 Mar 2026⁠25; Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, "1974 Jaguar E-Type Group 44 Racing Car"⁠26; Andrew Frankel, "V12 Epoch", Motor Sport, Dec 2004, p. 70⁠27; Andrew Frankel, "Unsung heroes: The V12 Jaguars that kept its racing heritage alive", Motor Sport, Mar 2015, p. 58⁠28; Alan Henry, "Sports round-up", Motor Sport, Dec 1974, p. 32⁠29; racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results"⁠30; racingsportscars.com, US Champions Road Atlanta [BP] 1975, results⁠31; Motor Sport, "Around and About, December 1975", Dec 1975, p. 32⁠32

He began the TR6's first season with three national wins in a row, the third at Cumberland on 18 May 1969, and in June, at Road America, the car he usually drove won again with his co-founder, Brian Fuerstenau, at the wheel. A year later at Cumberland he won again from pole position and led all the way. The championship race at the end of each year was harder. In 1969 a Porsche hit his car and he crashed out; in 1970 he qualified beside the Datsun 240Z on pole, only 0.2 seconds slower.

Early in 1972 he was injured in a road accident away from racing, the newsletter reported, and he raced only late in the season. In October he took the TR-6 to London for British Leyland's stand at the Motor Show and drove it for the press at Silverstone. By the middle of 1974 he was leading the Northeast Division's C Production points when John McComb took the car over for what remained of the season. Group 44, Moss Motoring wrote later, turned to the V12 Jaguar E-type "as the TR6 became less competitive in its class".

The TR6's best years came after he had left it. McComb won the D Production title in Group 44's TR-6 in 1975, and in 1976, when Paul Newman won it again in the same TR6, Tullius finished 5th in one of British Leyland's new TR7s. The last TR6 built, Severson writes, went to him, and in 1994 Moss Motoring reported it owned by his company, Bob Tullius Racing.⁠33​34​35​36​37​38​18​17​39​1​40​19​41

Roles

  1. 1965

    Founder

    Group 44 Inc., Falls Church, Virginia, with mechanic Brian Fuerstenau and advertising man Dick Gilmartin; Gilmartin raced the team's Spitfire

    Moss Motoring, "Bob Tullius, Group 44 Inc.", 5 Apr 2009⁠1

  2. 1969

    Driver

    1969–1974. Raced Group 44's TR-6 in SCCA C Production from 1969 to 1974, and was 2nd in the class at the 1972 American Road Race of Champions

    racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR6 – All Results"⁠3; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1972, Dec 1972 (vol. 18 no. 12)⁠17; Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012⁠19

Results

  • 1970

    American Road Race of Champions 1970

    29 November 1970, Road Atlanta, USA. Bob Tullius: retired: clutch⁠37

  • 1971

    American Road Race of Champions 1971

    28 November 1971, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 44, Bob Tullius: did not start: injured in a practice accident⁠42​3

  • 1972

    American Road Race of Champions 1972

    November 1972, Road Atlanta, USA. Bob Tullius: 2nd in C Production⁠17​3

  • 1973

    SCCA Runoffs 1973

    4 November 1973, Road Atlanta, USA. No. 44, Bob Tullius: retired: brakes⁠43​3

Sources

Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  • Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
  1. Moss Motoring, "Bob Tullius, Group 44 Inc.", 5 Apr 2009, Group 44 and its Triumphs; the move to the Jaguar E-type; "as the TR6 became less competitive in its class". Reference
  2. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August 1970, Aug 1970, "more national championship wins than any other driver in the country". Primary
  3. racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR6 – All Results", Tullius's TR6 results, 1969–73. Database
  4. Moss Motoring, "Press Release: British Sports Car Hall of Fame", 20 Mar 2017. Reference
  5. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1962, Jun 1962, p. 4. Primary
  6. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1962, Sep–Oct 1962 (vol. 8 nos. 9 and 10), p. 1. Primary
  7. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1963, Sep 1963 (vol. 9 no. 8). Primary
  8. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, March 1964, Mar 1964 (vol. 10 no. 3). Primary
  9. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1964, Nov 1964. Primary
  10. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 1: TR4 and TR4A", Ate Up With Motor, 22 Oct 2012. Reference
  11. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1963, results, results. Database
  12. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1966, results, DNF table. Database
  13. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1968, Sep 1968 (vol. 14 no. 9), p. 2. Primary
  14. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1968, Dec 1968 (masthead "Volume 14, Number 11"), p. 3. Primary
  15. racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR250 – All Results". Database
  16. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1968, results. Database
  17. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1972, Dec 1972 (vol. 18 no. 12), p. 2; p. 2, the 1972 ARRC. Primary
  18. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1972, Nov 1972 (vol. 18 no. 11), p. 2; a late season; London and Silverstone. Primary
  19. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012, TR in twilight; TR in twilight: the last TR6 off the line. Reference
  20. Aaron Severson, "Way of the Wedge: The Triumph TR7 and TR8", Ate Up With Motor, 5 Feb 2012, pp. 1–5, p. 3. Reference
  21. Michael L. Cook, "1981 Triumph TR8: Fast and Last", Special Interest Autos, no. 156, Nov–Dec 1996, pp. 10–17, p. 13. Reference
  22. Don Sherman, "Triumph TR8" (road test), Car and Driver, Aug 1980, pp. 36–40, p. 38. Primary
  23. racingsportscars.com, "All Results of Triumph TR8" (1979–1999), race pages 1979-80. Database
  24. Michael Lamm, "1st Drive in the Triumph TR8", British Car, Feb–Mar 1999, pp. 46–48, pp. 47–48. Reference
  25. Classic & Sports Car, RIP Bob Tullius 1930-2026, Jack Phillips, 19 Mar 2026. Reference
  26. Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, "1974 Jaguar E-Type Group 44 Racing Car", race table. Primary
  27. Andrew Frankel, "V12 Epoch", Motor Sport, Dec 2004, p. 70, p. 70. Reference
  28. Andrew Frankel, "Unsung heroes: The V12 Jaguars that kept its racing heritage alive", Motor Sport, Mar 2015, p. 58, debut. Reference
  29. Alan Henry, "Sports round-up", Motor Sport, Dec 1974, p. 32, "E-types almost make it", p. 32. Primary
  30. racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results", 3.11.1974, Road Atlanta [BP], 2nd. Database
  31. racingsportscars.com, US Champions Road Atlanta [BP] 1975, results, results, 1st. Database
  32. Motor Sport, "Around and About, December 1975", Dec 1975, p. 32, "Leyland Victories", p. 32. Primary
  33. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1969, Jun 1969, Cumberland, 18 May 1969: a third straight win. Primary
  34. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1969, Jul 1969, Road America: Fuerstenau in the car Tullius usually drove. Primary
  35. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1969, Dec 1969 (vol. 15 no. 12), the 1969 ARRC. Primary
  36. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1970, Jun 1970, Cumberland, 17 May 1970, from pole. Primary
  37. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1970, Dec 1970 (vol. 16 no. 12), the 1970 ARRC: pole by 0.2 s to the 240Z; p. 2. Primary
  38. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, March 1972, Mar 1972, p. 2, Tullius injured in a road accident early in 1972. Primary
  39. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August 1974, Aug 1974 (vol. 20 no. 8), p. 1, McComb takes over the TR-6. Primary
  40. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1976, Sep–Oct 1976 (vol. 22 no. 5), the 1976 Runoffs: Tullius 5th in a TR7. Primary
  41. Moss Motoring, "Twenty-Five years of the TR6: A Nostalgic Profile", Oct 1994, the last TR6 owned by Bob Tullius Racing, 1994. Reference
  42. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November–December 1971, Nov–Dec 1971 (vol. 17 nos. 11–12), p. 3. Primary
  43. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1973, Nov 1973 (vol. 19 no. 10), p. 2. Primary