By Shaun Lumley

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Aside from the 1976 event at Mosport, 1977 wasn't Tullius' first foray into Trans Am competition. In fact, he had won the over two-liter class in the first Trans Am race held at Sebring in 1966 using a Dodge Dart that he shared with Tony Adamowicz. He also won a Trans Am event the following year at Daytona. In 1971 he caught the attention of the media and fans when he entered a 1964 Pontiac against factory supported Mustangs, Camaros and Javelins. The E-type was also used in a Trans Am event at Brainerd in 1975. He qualified second but a broken axle relegated him to a sixteenth place finish. But the 1977 season proved to be the first year that Group 44 would devote their efforts to both the Trans Am Driver and Manufacturer championships for British Leyland.

The 1977 Trans Am championship for Category I and II cars consisted of 11 races. The XJS was entered in the Category I class. The automobiles in this class were not as highly modified as those in Category II. Tullius started the season with wins at the first two races, Seattle and Westwood. But a DNF at Portland and an eighth place finish at Nelson Ledges allowed John Bauer in a Porsche 911 SC to take the points lead. The fifth race of the series was a 6-hour event at Watkins Glen, which was run in conjunction with the World Championship for Makes. Double points were awarded for Trans Am competitors due to the race length and to encourage teams to enter the event. Brian Fuerstenau was brought in to share the driving duties with Tullius. The pair qualified twenty-first overall and 1st in class, which resulted in some satisfaction for the team as the car was detuned for reliability. Tullius joked that these changes were made so that the car would last for five hours and fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, his words proved prophetic as a combination of a broken wheel and electrical problems resulted in a fourth place finish. Tullius' main rival for the championship, Bauer, finished second, which allowed him to maintain his points lead. After the Glen, Group 44 returned to their early season form and the team took three wins in the remaining six races, finishing out of the top three once. In the end, Tullius won the Driver's championship with 170 points to Bauer's 162. Despite this success and Jaguar's five wins to Porsche's three the team fell just 2 points short of the Manufacturer's title. It was inevitable that Porsche would win this title as three, of the top four competitors in the Driver's championship raced this marque. The disappointment of not achieving this goal was not lost on Group 44 for next season.