By Shaun Lumley

In the late '70s British Leyland had been rallying an experimental Triumph TR7 with a V8 engine. In late 1978 a decision was made by the company to put this car into production for 1979 and call it the Triumph TR8. As the result of its connection with the factory, Group 44 was handed the task of turning the new vehicle into a racer. This meant parking the Jaguar XJS. The Triumph's first race was Watkins Glen and despite no testing and few spare parts the team won Category I by a margin of almost 10 laps. But the TR8's dominating win received criticism from competitors who claimed the car was illegal. In addition to this controversy, British Leyland was unable to coordinate their marketing program with the car's early success as production delays and labor problems had pushed back the introduction of the car. The TR8, was only raced two more times in the series but won both events. In the end Tullius and Triumph finished second in their respective championships. For the 1980 season Group 44 and their TR8 moved to the IMSA GTO championship. Several factors contributed to the jump from SCCA to IMSA. The Trans Am had lacked direction and leadership in 1979 and the team felt changes in the rules for 1980 were moving in the direction of amateurism. Furthermore, the IMSA series enjoyed tremendous media coverage during the late '70s. By the end of the season Tullius had finished second in the Driver standings and his co-driver Bill Adam fourth.