The company was founded by Carl Bolch Sr. in 1934 in St. Louis, Missouri, with his first stores operating under the name Carl Bolch Trackside Stations. In 1959, Bolch relocated and acquired the Oil Well Company of Opp, Alabama, which consisted of numerous independent outlets across rural Alabama. His son, Carl Bolch Jr., who succeeded his father as chief executive, joined the company in Montgomery, Alabama in 1967. After pioneering the concept of self-service gasoline in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, the company relocated its headquarters in 1976 to Atlanta, Georgia, and adopted the brand "RaceTrac" for its company-operated stations. RaceWay stations, operated by contractors, continue as a part of RaceTrac Petroleum. In the 1990s RaceTrac operated as a cash-only business, but now accepts credit cards, debit cards and fleet cards. In October 2012, Carl Bolch Jr. announced he would be passing the CEO title to his daughter, Allison Bolch Moran, while remaining Chairman of the Board. The change went into effect December 31, 2012.
Locations
RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc. operates more than 650 retail gasoline convenience stores in 12 southeastern states under the RaceTrac and RaceWay 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, which features Swirl World frozen yogurt, free wi-fi internet and indoor and outdoor seating. RaceTrac can be found in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, and Mississippi. There are over 300 RaceWay-branded locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Awards and acknowledgments
The company was ranked on Forbes magazine's list of the largest private companies in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and 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". In 2012, RaceTrac was named CSNews' Retailer Innovator of the Year. In 2012, RaceTrac was named Best Place to Work by the South Florida Business Journal. In 2013, RaceTrac was named a Top National Workplace by Workplace Dynamics.
