RaceTrac has named CEO Natalie Morhous as chairman of the board, according to a Wednesday announcement.
The convenience retailer’s board appointed Morhous — who has been RaceTrac’s CEO since January — to take on the new role in addition to her current one. She’s replacing Carl Bolch Jr., son of RaceTrac founder Carl Bolch, who has assumed the role of chairman emeritus after serving the past 56 years as board chairman.
Morhous has now held several leadership positions with RaceTrac over the past decade-plus. Prior to being named CEO, her other roles included president, director of strategy and development, executive director of strategy and solutions, and executive director as well as vice president of RaceTrac’s transportation arm Energy Dispatch.
“My family and I have so much confidence in our exceptional board and leadership team and know that RaceTrac, Inc. will continue to flourish and evolve to meet the needs of our guests,” Morhous said in the announcement.
Bolch Jr. became CEO of his father’s Missouri-based company, Carl Bolch Trackside Stations, in 1967. In 1976, he relocated its headquarters to Atlanta and renamed the company RaceTrac. Through the years, he helped grow the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands from 100 c-stores in two states to more than 800 stores across 13 states.
RaceTrac eventually became Georgia’s second-largest privately held company and the 18th largest in the U.S., according to the announcement. Today, it employs more than 10,500 team members across its two c-store banners and affiliated companies, such as Metroplex Energy, Energy Dispatch and Gulf Oil.
“RaceTrac was transformed because of Carl's incredible foresight, insatiable intellect, business acumen and what he somewhat reluctantly would call ‘vision,’” Max Lenker, a board director at RaceTrac, said in the announcement. “It is impossible to summarize the indelible mark Carl has made on RaceTrac, the fuel and convenience store industries and society as a whole.”
Atlanta-based RaceTrac is a privately held company led by Morhouse, a third-generation CEO. Other family members in leadership include Chief Brand Officer Melanie Isbill and board member Jordan Bolch.
