As RaceTrac celebrates 90 years in business, the third generation of the founding family is now steering the company and building on the chain’s long-standing legacy. With an eye on innovation, RaceTrac is focused on growth, expanding its footprint in the Southeast while moving into new states across the Midwest — with new stores in operation in Indiana, and Ohio next on its agenda — marking an exciting new chapter in its history.
This past January, Natalie Morhous, who also serves as board chairman, assumed the mantle of CEO from Max McBrayer who helmed the company since 2019.
“It is an honor to step into this role to guide the company that my grandfather started so many years ago,” Morhous said, adding that she is motivated to build on her father’s and grandfather’s legacies as she leads RaceTrac.
“What a special time for my family, for RaceTrac and for me to be able to become CEO alongside this incredible milestone. It’s so unbelievable to think about what my grandfather might have dreamed of when he started RaceTrac in 1934,” she said.
While Morhous doesn’t know what he envisioned his legacy might become, she does know RaceTrac’s growth has likely surpassed anything he might have imagined.
Headquartered in Atlanta, RaceTrac now stands as the 18th-largest privately held company in the U.S., according to Forbes, and employs more than 10,000 team members. It serves 9 million customers weekly across more than 800 retail locations, which include 584 company-owned and -operated RaceTrac stores in 10 states and 235 franchisee-operated RaceWay sites throughout 13 states. RaceTrac also operates three affiliated companies: Metroplex Energy, a wholesale fuel company that secures bulk fuel to supply rack sales and delivery of gasoline, diesel and biofuel products by pipeline, rail, truck, barge and vessel; its fuel transportation company, Energy Dispatch; as well as its recent acquisition, Gulf Oil.
Early Days
In 1934, Morhous’ grandfather, Carl Bolch Sr., opened a gas station known as Carl Bolch Trackside Stations in Missouri and began building a company that would one day become RaceTrac.
His son, Carl Bolch Jr., succeeded him as CEO in 1967 and pioneered the self-service gasoline business in the South. The company moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 1976, and in 1979, established the RaceTrac brand for company-operated stores and the RaceWay name for its franchise locations. Under Bolch Jr.’s leadership, RaceTrac grew to become Georgia’s second-largest privately held company. He also grew the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands from 100 stores in two states to the more than 800 locations it spans today.
Morhous, who is Bolch Jr.’s daughter, joined RaceTrac in 2012 after a career in consulting. Over the past 12 years, she has led various departments within RaceTrac from strategy and development to managing the fuel transportation business, gaining insights and experience into all aspects of the family business. For the past five years, Morhous served as president of the company before taking the helm as CEO in January.
“My father led the organization for most of my lifetime and had such a tremendous impact,” Morhous said. “My dad has many qualities I attempt to emulate these days: a fundamental drive for continuous improvement; an innate curiosity about the world and how he could make his sliver of it just a little bit better; a quiet style that applied work ethic and intellect in a way that encouraged others to give it their all each day.”
Morhous added that she’s excited to take on the role of CEO because she loves managing the family business and she also loves the people, including family members, that she gets to work with each day. That includes her sister, Melanie Bolch Isbill, RaceTrac’s chief brand officer and member of the board of directors; her brother, Jordan Bolch; and her mother, Susan Bolch, who both sit on the board of directors. Earlier this year, her father, Bolch, Jr., was named chairman emeritus after more than five decades with the c-store chain.
Morhous noted that RaceTrac has been a growing organization throughout her lifetime. In the past 12 years alone, RaceTrac has experienced a 40% growth in store count. As CEO, Morhous is committed to continuing RaceTrac’s expansion.
“The recent evolution of our growth strategy has been particularly exciting. Recent innovations in store formats, new products and, of course, new markets are all coming to fruition. For these reasons, I expect the company will look quite different within the next few years,” Morhous said.
While RaceTrac has operated in key metropolitan markets in the Southeast for a long time, it’s now actively growing its footprint in the Southeast while simultaneously expanding into the Midwest. RaceTrac re-entered the Alabama market and entered Kentucky in 2021, and in December 2023 it moved into Indiana. RaceTrac sees each of these markets as growing areas that are ripe for expansion. Now, the chain has its sights set on the Ohio market, where it is set to open its first store by the end of 2024, adding an 11th state to RaceTrac’s footprint. RaceTrac is also set to celebrate its 600th store opening in spring 2025.
At the same time, RaceTrac is evolving its identity when it comes to the type of stores it’s constructing as it creates a diesel network for professional drivers.
As a high-volume retailer, when RaceTrac evaluates where it should expand, it is evaluating locations to ensure it can continue to grow in that area as well as where it can best position its diesel offering on U.S. highways and interstates.
“RaceTrac is prime to expand our footprint in both of those ways,” Morhous said. “Hopefully that will be one of the big legacies that today’s leadership team has on the organization.”
As it grows, RaceTrac continues to eye acquisitions that can help elevate its offering. Most recently, in December 2023, RaceTrac acquired Gulf Oil LLC, which included Gulf’s iconic brand in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Gulf-branded distributor and license agreements for about 1,100 branded sites, and exclusive rights to market fuel at 11 Massachusetts Turnpike service plaza locations.
“It’s been just a tremendous acquisition for our company and the largest in our history,” Morhous said. “We are super proud of the Gulf brand, and we have wonderful plans to grow that brand (both within its current footprint and beyond).”
Additionally, the chain is growing through new-to-industry expansion.
“We’re building more stores this year, and we already have stores under construction that will be opening next year,” Morhous said. In 2024, RaceTrac expects to have opened 28 new RaceTrac and RaceWay stores by the end of the year, with 40 more on the docket for 2025.
Premium Store Experience
As it grows, RaceTrac remains committed to regularly upgrading its legacy store locations. RaceTrac first launched its remodel program for existing sites in 2013, and that initiative remains an ongoing program for the chain as it continues to bring its latest offers to even its oldest locations.
“We keep those facilities refreshed because we pride ourselves in being a premium convenience store offering, and we want to make sure that guests really feel that premium experience with not just our people and our offers, but our facilities as well,” Morhous said.
RaceTrac’s current prototype design is called the EFC, standing for Enhanced Fuel, Food, Frictionless Concept.
“Our strategy is very focused on food offers, on creating a frictionless shopping experience and on consistently enhancing how guests can refuel at our stores, so that the ‘F’ really aligns with the fuel goals, the food goals and the frictionless goals,” Morhous said.
The new c-store prototype measures 6,000 square feet and is specifically designed to help achieve more efficient operations within the stores. Most feature a second high-flow diesel canopy and presentation for professional drivers.
RaceTrac has also developed a travel center prototype, which is new for the chain. Those stores span 8,000 square feet. The c-store chain currently operates 26 travel centers.
Both versions of the prototype place the foodservice counter in the center of the store, so it’s the first thing guests see when they walk in the door.
RaceTrac’s overarching goal with the EFC prototype is to provide a premium shopping experience to guests.
“Part of that is the welcoming environment and the feeling of safety in our stores. So we are very intentional with the design of each store location, inside and outside — to make sure that our colors are vibrant and that our lighting creates a bright space at all hours of the day,” Morhous said.
Although RaceTrac’s color palette has evolved over the years, its core remains rooted in the iconic blue and red customers recognize.
In the forecourt, RaceTrac is embracing a diverse range of fuels to keep customers on the move, from diesel and traditional gasoline to cutting-edge electric vehicle (EV) charging. RaceTrac currently has EV chargers at seven locations and plans to continue to roll out EV chargers strategically where it makes sense for the organization.
Morhous noted that RaceTrac doesn’t see itself as a “gas-first organization” today.
“We see ourselves as a convenience destination offering guests whatever they need in the moment,” Morhous said. “And EV charging is one of those things. So as demand for EV charging grows, we absolutely expect to continue to expand EV charging to meet that guest on the go, just as we always have.”
Grab-And-Go Food
RaceTrac shifted its foodservice strategy away from made-to-order in 2018, but it remains committed to its food strategy of satisfying and delighting guests with value and quality offerings. Today, RaceTrac is focused on a grab-and-go offering that provides guests with a frictionless and high-quality experience.
“All our hot foods are made in-house, so they are fresh and ready when our guests are craving them,” Morhous said. “We have moved away from made-to-order in an effort to really meet our guests where they want to be met and allow them to put as much or as little of the various toppings on their food as they want to.”
RaceTrac’s proprietary pizza program is the cornerstone of its hot grab-and-go food program. The program features year-round pizza staples such as pepperoni and sausage but also includes the regular addition of limited-time pizza offerings to keep the menu fresh and drive guest engagement.
RaceTrac also serves up made-in-store fried chicken, breakfast sandwiches, burgers, empanadas and potato wedges. Further, the c-store has a strong roller grill program with a full toppings bar, which allows customers to customize the offering to their preferences.
Guests can also enjoy RaceTrac’s Swirl World self-service frozen yogurt bar.
All stores feature a bean-to-cup coffee program.
“It’s an incredibly fresh coffee offer,” Morhous said. “Alongside that, we not only have many varieties of beans, but we have lots of different flavors of creamers and toppings … where guests can really customize it and make it their way.”
RaceTrac offers order ahead through its RaceTrac Rewards app, and it partners with DoorDash for delivery.
Tech Watch
RaceTrac introduced an upgrade to its popular RaceTrac Rewards app in May, which includes a redesign that improves functionality and makes the app easier to navigate.
Through the RaceTrac Rewards program, guests can earn points on every purchase they make whether inside the store or at the gas pump. Then, through the app, they can redeem those points for free items listed in the Rewards catalog. Rewards customers also enjoy discounts, special coupons and promotions. (Learn more on page 76.)
“As a part of being a member of our rewards program and having our app, as long as you type in your phone number or scan your app (at the checkout), any couponing/deal automatically is deducted at the point of purchase so that we make sure that guests never miss a deal,” Morhous said. “We’re excited about that frictionless experience as well, and our marketing team has plans to continue to evolve the Rewards experience.”
Today, RaceTrac features self-checkout kiosks in about half (288) of its RaceTrac locations and has plans to roll out self-checkout at all new-build locations.
“We love it because guests love it,” she said. “Over the last couple of years, we have made strides in self-checkout. We plan to continue to roll out more self-checkout kiosks to even more stores in the future in our continued efforts to satisfy the on-the-go guest seeking a frictionless c-store experience.”
RaceTrac is also focused on a data-first mindset.
“In addition to making our customers’ experiences simpler and more enjoyable, we aim to harness the power of data to make better business decisions to help us unlock greater value for our customers and boost competitiveness,” Morhous said.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead, RaceTrac is committed to developing initiatives that drive continued growth to meet the evolving demands of its customer base.
“When we say we pride ourselves on making people’s lives simpler and more enjoyable, that’s really how we define who we are as an organization,” Morhous said.
First and foremost, as RaceTrac looks ahead, it plans to continue to prioritize that value while continuing to build stores with a range of offerings that provide a one-stop shopping experience for guests on the go.
“We expect you to be able to get everything from your fuel to the beverage of your choosing to great food — 24/7, 365 days a year — all at RaceTrac,” Morhous explained.
RaceTrac also takes community involvement seriously and proudly supports many community partnerships, including Georgia’s Camp Sunshine, the Boys and Girls Club of America and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. It is also a proud sponsor of Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves, the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United.
Morhous credited RaceTrac’s success over the past 90 years to the dedication of its team members across RaceTrac and all its affiliated companies. “They’re the ones that really make the experience special,” she said.
“None of RaceTrac’s numerous successes would be possible without the leadership that came before me and the incredible team I have in place today,” Morhous said. “We’re going to continue to grow and evolve and, as my father always said, let the marketplace be our teacher, so that we can meet guests where they are with what it is they want and need every day.”