IMSA mourns loss of Hall of Famer Bob Tullius at age 95
IMSA Hall of Famer Robert Charles “Bob” Tullius, a success on the race track and an innovator away from it, died Monday at age 95 in Port Orange, Fla. – only a few miles from Daytona International Speedway which fueled so many of his dreams and achievements over decades of dedication to auto racing.
“Bob Tullius was one of the true originals in American sports car racing,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “He was a visionary competitor, a gifted team leader, and a gentleman whose presence elevated every paddock he entered. His success with Group 44 and his decades of innovation and excellence left an unmistakable imprint on IMSA’s history and on the countless people he inspired along the way.
“We mourn the loss of a Hall of Famer, a pioneer, and a dear friend to our community. On behalf of everyone at IMSA, we extend our deepest condolences to Bob’s family, friends, former teammates, and the many fans who cherished his remarkable legacy.”
One of motorsport’s esteemed multi-Hall of Famers, Tullius co-founded the iconic Group 44 team where he earned 10 IMSA GTP class wins as a driver in his famed Jaguar XJR-5s and XJR-7s in the mid-1980s – a time when he also claimed a treasured GTP class victory in the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans. His final win as a driver came a year later in the 1986 three-hour race at Daytona.
Years earlier, the versatile talent Tullius even entered the 1973 Daytona 500, but did not qualify for the race after being collected in a multi-car crash during a qualifying race.
Certainly, this penchant for earning headlines was evident from his earliest days in the sport – a bold career choice necessitated when his supervisor at the Kodak Company where he worked in the 1960s told him he must pick between his day job there or his “night job” on the race track.
Ultimately, that decision proved correct and Tullius’ contributions to racing history began in earnest in 1966, when he drove a Dodge Dart to victory in the inaugural SCCA Trans Am Series race at Sebring International Raceway – then a “support event” to the world-renowned Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, where so much of the racing world’s attention is focused for this Saturday’s historic 74th running.
In all, Tullius won 21 times in a multi-year tenure in Trans Am primarily driving Triumphs and he was fittingly, not only among the inaugural Trans Am Hall of Fame class but was the very first person inducted in an esteemed group that included fellow honorees Roger Penske and the late Parnelli Jones.
In its 25-years, Tulius’ Group 44 – also co-founded by Brian Fuerstenau and fellow New York native Dick Gilmartin – combined for 14 national titles and more than 300 wins in the IMSA GTP endurance races, SCCA Club Races and SCCA Trans Am Series. He fielded the car that another IMSA legend, Hurley Haywood, drove to the 1988 Trans Am title.
Tullius earned legendary status for the versatility and success he showed behind the wheel, but it was absolutely equaled by his next-level business-acumen out of the cockpit.
After his racing career, Tullius focused on team promotion and public relations. He proved the value of having a strategic and skilled public relations department long before that was such an integral part of race team organization. And he was especially proud of the attention he brought and the professionalism he expected in that aspect of the sport – demonstrating the great benefits of acquiring major long-term corporate sponsors.
“We started the practice of reaching out to the press, auto dealerships and sponsor affiliates,” Tullius told RACER Magazine. “My staff were the first real marketing professionals in motorsports. We had a PR team and would go into markets in advance of races with promotional materials for stores, TV, radio and newspapers. It was 24-7 leg work.”
For his efforts on track and beyond, Tullius was inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame in 2014, the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2015, the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in 2017, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2018. He was inducted into the IMSA Hall of Fame in 2025.
Not surprisingly, the reaction from the racing world to news of Tullius’ passing has provoked massive amounts of tributes. So many wanting to show their respect, with the word, “legend” the recurring theme.
“On a very personal note, Bob was a lifelong hero of mine,” Doonan said. “Bob and my grandfather (John W. Doonan) were very close friends and met – just by chance – in a London restaurant on their way back to the states from Le Mans. Because they both lived in the same area of Virginia/Maryland, they shared racing stories, plane stories, car stories, and true friendship from then on.
“I first met Bob at the IMSA 500-mile race at Road America in 1982, a day I will never forget. My last visit with Bob was last year at his Florida home when we presented him his IMSA Hall of Fame medal. Rarely does it come to be that one gets the chance to induct one of their heroes into the Hall of Fame. In this case, I cherish the fact that I could.”
Tullius is survived by his daughter, his daughter in law, his eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren and was preceded in death by his son, Russel.
A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the Humane Society in Tullius’ name.
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