Travis Leon "Spider" Webb (October 8, 1910 – January 27, 1990) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He was the 1948

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Cana ...

(AAA) Midwest Sprint Car champion. He raced in numerous AAA Championship Car races including six

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

s. Known as "Spider", Webb transported a portable bar in the trunk of his car at all times and was known for his free spirit and his humor.

Early life

Webb was born in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

. His father made cabinets. Webb's parents moved the family to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1923.

Racing career

Webb began racing on the Muroc Dry Lake (now known as Rogers Dry Lake) in 1928. His car owner gave him the nickname "Spider". Webb decided to stop racing on the long straightaways and decided to focus on dirt oval racing of Southern California. One of the tracks that he raced was

Legion Ascot Speedway Legion Ascot Speedway was an American race track in El Sereno, California that operated from 1924 to 1936. It hosted AAA Champ Car races. History Early success under Bentel ends with a scandal After the construction of a -mile dirt oval in ...

where he raced in the "B" class.

Sprint car career

In 1936, Webb and Jimmy Wilburn were offered rides in "Big Cars" in the Central States Racing Association (CSRA). Both accepted and moved to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Webb won the final CSRA race of the 1938 season at Winchester Speedway. Webb switched from the CSRA to the

(AAA) Midwest series in 1941 and finished fourth in the season points. Racing was halted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In late 1947, Webb won three straight AAA Midwest races at Dayton Speedway, Salem Speedway, and Winchester. He won another race at Salem and finished second in 1947 AAA Midwest points to Johnny Shackleford. Webb started the 1948 season by winning seven times and finishing second in the first eight races. He missed a few races that season while running a Champ Car but still won the AAA Midwest championship. Webb started the 1949 season with a new sprint car that he co-owned; by June he had moved back to a car owned by Johnny Vance. He had a second-place finish at

Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway The Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway was a dirt oval racing track located in Detroit, Michigan. The track was built in 1899 for horse racing, and it was part of the ground purchased to provide a permanent venue for the Michigan State Fair. Jo ...

in Detroit and a third at the Syracuse Mile; he finished third in the final AAA Midwest points. Webb finished fifth in the 1950 AAA Midwest points. After the racing season was over, he had a thumb injury at his friend's shop and had to sit out the entire 1951 season.

Championship car career

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, Webb made a one-off

(AAA) Champ Car start at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectat ...

; he started last in the 17 car field and finished seventh. Webb made two Champ Car starts in 1946; he finished tenth at the

Indiana State Fair The Indiana State Fair is an annual state fair that spans 15 days in August in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. The Indiana State Fair debuted in 1852 at Military Park in Indianapolis and is the sixth oldest state fair in the U.S. It is the largest ...

grounds and eighth at Milwaukee. Webb was offered a ride from Mutt Anderson into the

1948 Indianapolis 500 The 32nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1948. For the second year in a row, the Blue Crown Spark Plug teammates Mauri Rose and Bill Holland finished 1st-2nd. Rose became the se ...

but did not qualify. At the last minute, he was offered another ride and qualified the Bromme dirt champ car 30th. His race ended early after an oil line failure; he finished 27th after completing 27 of 200 laps. Webb qualified 26th for the

1949 Indianapolis 500 The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949. After two years of failures to his teammate, Bill Holland finally won one for himself. Giving car owner Lou Mo ...

but finished last (33rd) after he transmission broke before he could complete one lap. He switched to a car owned by Charles Bowes starting with the ninth race of the 1949 season after Mel Hansen was unable to race. Webb started on the pole position for Syracuse race before finishing third. He finished second at Detroit and eighth at Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack (Springfield Mile). Webb finished the

1950 Indianapolis 500 The 34th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1950. The event was sanctioned by the AAA and served as the premier event on the calendar of the 1950 AAA National Championship Trail. ...

in 20th place after the race was shorted due to rain on lap 138. He did not qualify for four races and finished 18th in his only other Champ Car race at Springfield. Webb got bumped out of the field for the

1952 Indianapolis 500 The 36th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1952. It was the opening race of the 1952 AAA Championship Car season, 1952 AAA National Championship Trail and was also rac ...

but made the field in a last-minute qualifying attempt for Bromme. He finished 22nd after having to retire with an oil leak late in the race. In the

1953 Indianapolis 500 The 37th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1953. The event was part of the 1953 AAA National Championship, and was race 2 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers. Bill V ...

, he started 29th and finished 22nd. He did not qualify for five events and finished 15th in the event that he did qualify (Springfield). Bromme called Webb in another last-minute deal for the

1954 Indianapolis 500 The 38th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1954. The event was part of the 1954 AAA National Championship Trail, and was also race 2 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Driver ...

; he qualified 29th and finishing 30th. Webb failed to qualify for the

1955 Indianapolis 500 The 39th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1955. The event was race 1 of 11 of the 1955 AAA National Championship Trail and was race 3 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Driv ...

World Drivers' Championship career

The

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

/ USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA

World Drivers' Championship Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which a ...

from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship participation, and were eligible to score WDC points alongside those which they may have scored towards the

/ USAC

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. Webb participated in four World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. His best finish was 19th place, and he scored no World Drivers' Championship points.

Post racing career

After retiring from racing, Webb moved to

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 102,773 at the 2020 census. Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located southeast of downtown Los Angeles a ...

. He purchased earthmoving equipment and worked on the

Los Angeles Zoo The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The city of Los Angeles owns the zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals. History Eastlake Zoo, opened in Eastlak ...

construction. He died at the age of 79 in

McMinnville, Oregon McMinnville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Yamhill County, Oregon, Yamhill County, Oregon, United States at the base of the Oregon Coast Range. The city is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States cens ...

Awards and honors

* Webb was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1997.

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Spider 1910 births 1990 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Joplin, Missouri Racing drivers from Missouri AAA Championship Car drivers 20th-century American sportsmen