RaceTrac: Whatever Gets You Going


January 28, 2023


RaceTrac, Inc. is an American corporation that operates a chain of gasoline service stations across the southeastern United States. The firm is Georgia’s third-largest private company.


There are 566 Racetrac locations in the United States

In 1934, in St. Louis, Missouri, Carl Bolch Sr. opened his first stores under the name of Carl Bolch Trackside Stations.


The first Carl Bolch roadside station, 1934, St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1959, Bolch expanded his business by acquiring a string of independent outlets across rural Alabama known as the Oil Well Company.


An Oil Well Company roadside station, 1959

Carl Bolch Jr., joined the company in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1967 and succeeded his father as chief executive officer.

The Bolch family introduced the first self-service gas stations in the 1970s in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

By 1976, with self-service gas stations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, Bolch decided to relocate the company headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia. In 1979, all company-operated stores adopted the brand, RaceTrac, and all contractor-operated stores became known as RaceWay.


In 1996, RaceTrac founded a wholly-owned subsidiary of RaceTrac, Inc. known as MetroPlex Energy which supplied bulk fuel to RaceTrac and RaceWay stores and other third-party companies.


On December 31, 2012, Carl Bolch Jr.’s daughter became the new CEO with her father staying on as chairman of the board. In February 2019, Max McBrayer became CEO of RaceTrac and Natalie Bolch Morhous became President of RaceTrac.


Today, RaceTrac, Inc. operates 566 gasoline convenience stores in 12 southeastern states under the RaceTrac (company-operated) and RaceWay (Contract Operator-operated) names.

Most RaceTracs feature 20 to 24 fueling positions and a 5000+ sq. ft. convenience store offering over 4,000 items. In January 2012, RaceTrac introduced its new 6,000-square-foot store design, the RT6K.


The company was ranked on Forbes magazine’s list of the largest private companies in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2009 and 2010 it was named by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

In October 2009, Carl Bolch Jr, chairman and CEO of RaceTrac, was named by Convenience Store News as their 2009 Retailer of the Year for “pioneering forecourt retailing in the Southeast and making an indelible mark on the convenience industry overall.”

Gloria Sauvé
Communications

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