By the mid-1960s, road racing in America had enjoyed steady growth; stretching from Watkins Glen and Elkhart Lake in the late 1940s, to tracks across the American landscape. Some tracks, like Florida’s Sebring Speedway, were nothing more than a converted Army Air Corps training camp for American airmen during World War II. Other tracks, like California’s Riverside Raceway, were built specifically to embrace America’s newfound affection for a form of motor sport that was inherently European.
American automakers were a little less willing to accept this newfound love. The mid-1950s was a tragic time in road racing, particularly Europe’s biggest event held every June at Le Mans in France. These tragic events led the American auto industry to form a racing ban in 1957, which officially meant there could be no factory-backed racing efforts for America’s automakers. Manufacturers knew that racing, especially road racing, was necessary to develop and test new products and technologies that companies were developing for their line of street cars. Many companies worked “under the table” in a kind of government-style “black ops” to get their products into the hands of brokers in order to gain the knowledge they were seeking to further develop their products.
The only thing that couldn’t keep the racing ban up was America’s youth. In the early 1960s, a population of young Americans became captivated by the pop culture and technological advances of their day. In 1964, Ford Motor Company fired one of the biggest shots the auto industry had ever seen, introducing the new Mustang. The Mustang was small by American standards at the time and could be powered by Ford’s venerable new small-block V-8. Aspiring racers quickly gravitated to the new car, which had its own roundabout performance parts development program ready thanks to Carroll Shelby and his Ferrari-eating Cobras that had been stalking the world’s road racing circuits since 1962. the help of the SCCA and the growing number of tracks in North America to compete in, Mustangs quickly experienced rapid success on the track. This left the other American manufacturers scrambling to find a remedy for Ford’s dominance in road racing, and the SCCA was only too keen to provide the perfect setting for such a shootout to occur.
For the 1966 season, the SCCA announced that it would approve a new series titled “Trans Am”. This series would include production-type machines in showroom stock that were readily available to the North American public. The rules allowed for two classes of competition within one event. The first class was for production cars of more than two liters displacement, or O2L. The second class was for production cars with a displacement of less than two liters, or U2L. While the European brands were going to dominate the U2L class; Both American manufacturers and road racers had their sights set on the O2L class, where they could use large V-8s in their compact coupe lines. While Mustang had an advantage in the number of teams and cars, they had more than a handful of competition from very enthusiastic teams who chose to take a different route than Ford’s pony car. One such team that strayed from the path laid out by Ford’s Total Performance Program was Group 44 Racing.
The father of Group 44 Racing was Bob Tullius, a young racer who began his career in the early 1960s racing in the Mid-Atlantic region and worked his way up the American road racing scene. For the 1966 season, Tullius and Group 44 partner Dick Gilmartin fielded a new Dodge Dart in Trans Am’s inaugural season. Bob has always had a reputation for exceptionally high standards, many of which have been demonstrated in the Group 44’s success over the years, but nevertheless, his high standards can make him a bit difficult to get along with from time to time. Dick Gilmartin had secured Group 44 sponsorship from Quaker State Motor Oil, only to become a victim of ever-increasing standards within Group 44. Quaker State’s money, however, stayed with Group 44 Racing, and the American Racing’s white Dodge Dart took to the track. for the first time on March 25, 1966 in Sebring, Florida. With Gilmartin leaving the team, Bob asked young Tony Adamowicz to co-drive the four-hour Sebring Trans Am event.
Tony Adamowicz was gaining fame as he racked up wins at Sports Car Club of America’s North East Region events driving a Volvo PV-544. Bob came to recognize Tony’s achievements piloting the Swedish heavy metal bobsled and asked Tony to co-drive with him at the 1966 Sebring event. The result was spectacular, with Tony and Bob finishing second overall behind of an Alfa Romeo U2L driven by future F1 world champion Jochen Rindt. The Group 44 Dart won the O2L class and laid the foundation for several dynasties to develop in the years to come.
The little white Dart, with a flat 273-cubic-inch engine that produced over 350 horsepower, continued to amaze the team and race fans alike throughout the 1966 Trans Am season. The driving duo of Tullius and Adamowicz continued to dominate Trans Am endurance events; finishing first at the Marlboro 12 Hours, sixth at Green Valley and second at Riverside. These results gave the Group 44 Dart a top 5 finish in the Championship for the 1966 season.
Things seemed to be off to a great start for 1967, with Bob driving the Dart to victory in the season opener at Daytona, Florida. Success was limited for the little white Mopar after that event, as teams with strong manufacturer support entered the series. Bud Moore Racing entered the scene with Mercury’s new Cougar XR7 and a soon-to-be-well-known team manager from Pennsylvania showed up in 1967 with Chevrolet’s new Camaro. The debut of these two teams marked the beginning of a factory-backed muscle car shootout that would last through 1972 and finally see AMC, a brand known for building the most austere cars, come in and win two titles.
As for the cast of characters behind Group 44 Dart’s incredible 1966 season; Bob Tullius would continue his Group 44 Racing project for nearly two more decades, winning some of North America’s most prestigious titles at some of the continent’s most famous circuits. In particular, Tullius would become involved with British Leyland and deliver outstanding results for brands including Triumph and Jaguar.
Tony Adamowicz would leave Group 44 at the end of 1967, eventually joining Marv Davidson in 1968 and winning the U2L crown in a Porsche 911. Tony would go on to win the 1969 F5000 championship in Milestone Racing’s AAR Eagle Chevy. This then opened the door to drive for Ferrari’s NART (North American Racing Team) in 1970, one of the most successful drag racing teams to ever hit the track. Tony continued to drive at the professional level of sports car racing until the late 1980s. Even today, Tony is still racing as Doug Magnon reunited him with his 1969 Eagle F5000 car and drove the Eagle/Chevy to a 2009 F5000 class championship in classic racing 40 years after the same car and driver combination won the F5000 title in 1969. Tony also operates a2zracergear, an online vintage racing clothing store.
Through the years; Group 44 Racing, and those involved with the team, have achieved some amazing things in road racing. One thing is for sure; without the efforts of Bob Tullius, Tony Adamowicz, the team and the Dodge Dart that made up the 1966 Trans Am campaign; the road racing landscape in North America would definitely not be as bright as it is today.