Natalie Morhous is the new CEO of RaceTrac. The third-generation leader and former president’s promotion was effective Tuesday.
She succeeds Max McBrayer, who she served alongside as president of the convenience-store chain since February 2019. McBrayer and Morhous led the company through an unprecedented global pandemic, shifted RaceTrac’s growth strategy to expand to new markets and finalized RaceTrac’s acquisition of Gulf Oil, the company said in a news release.
“Having observed Natalie’s leadership as RaceTrac’s president, we are confident in her ability to continue to lead our organization to even greater heights as CEO,” said Max Lenker, a board director at RaceTrac. “A culture champion, Natalie lives and breathes the RaceTrac Way—RaceTrac’s internal set of principles that includes putting people first, a culture of strong performance, a warrior’s passion, a humble attitude and living for fun every day. We have no doubt that her vision for RaceTrac’s future will propel our organization beyond the company we know today.”
Morhous said it was an honor to step into the role of CEO for the company that her grandfather began nearly 90 years ago. Morhous’ grandfather, Carl Bolch Sr., started the company in 1934 when he opened Carl Bolch Trackside Stations in St. Louis. His son, Carl Bolch Jr., took over as CEO in 1967, and Carl Bolch Jr.’s eldest daughter, Allison Moran, was CEO from 2012 to 2017.
- RaceTrac is No. 15 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of convenience store chains by store count.
“It is with great anticipation that I take on the challenge of serving our nearly 10,500 team members and the nine million guests that visit our stores each week,” she said. “I am grateful for Max’s mentorship and step into this role confident in the strategy we have developed and the team we have in place.”
Since Morhous joined RaceTrac in 2012, its store count has grown more than 40%, she said. The c-store chain has nearly 800 retail locations representing both the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands in 13 states. In her 11 years with the company, Morhous has been served as director of strategy and development, executive director of strategy and solutions, executive director of Energy Dispatch and vice president of Energy Dispatch before assuming her role as president of RaceTrac in February 2019.
Morhous was named CSP’s 2023 Retail Leader of the Year.
“It has been the honor of my career to serve RaceTrac’s people and our guests each and every day and I look forward to continuing that as CEO. I assume this position with a humble heart and immense gratitude. To our team members and board, thank you for your confidence, dedication and support,” Morhous said.
The board also thanked McBrayer for more than 32 years with RaceTrac. He joined The Ethanol Corp., a subsidiary of RaceTrac, as president in 1991. He took on various roles throughout the company, including chief supply officer in2014. In February 2019, the company announced his promotion to CEO and Morhous’s promotion to president.
“Max has made significant contributions to RaceTrac’s success during his time and his leadership has positioned RaceTrac well as we move forward to the future,” Lenker said.
RaceTrac has more than 570 locations in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Indiana, South Carolina and Tennessee. It also owns the RaceWay brand of franchises, wholesale fuel supply and trading company Metroplex Energy and fuel hauler Energy Dispatch.
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