Natalie Morhous Named CEO of RaceTrac
ATLANTA — The RaceTrac Board of Directors promoted Natalie Morhous to CEO of RaceTrac Inc. The leadership change was effective Jan. 2.
Max McBrayer previously served as CEO and Morhous previously served as president. Since assuming their respective positions as CEO and president in 2019, McBrayer and Morhous have partnered on RaceTrac's business decisions and strategy development. Together, they led the company through a global pandemic, shifted RaceTrac's growth strategy to expand to new markets and new prototypes, and finalized RaceTrac's acquisition of Gulf Oil, according to the company.
[Read more: RaceTrac Will Mark 2024 With First Stores in South Carolina]
"The board is thrilled to share the news that Natalie Morhous will be assuming the role of [CEO]," said Max Lenker, a board director at RaceTrac. "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.
"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," he added.
Lenker also recognized McBrayer's 32-plus years at the convenience retail company. "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," he said.
McBrayer served RaceTrac as a leader in various capacities since 1991 when he joined The Ethanol Corp., a subsidiary of RaceTrac, as president. In 1994, he transitioned to RaceTrac's vice president of engineering and design, and was later promoted to senior vice president of supply and distribution.
In 2014, McBrayer became chief supply officer before assuming his most recent role as CEO. During his tenure, RaceTrac was acknowledged as No. 18 on Forbes America's Largest Private Companies list.
"It is an honor to step into the role of CEO for the company my grandfather began nearly 90 years ago," Morhous said. "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. 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."
Mourhous was a 2020 Woman of the Year in the Convenience Store News Top Women in Convenience awards program.
"Since joining RaceTrac in 2012, I've had the privilege of seeing our store count grow over 40 percent — all thanks to the amazing team members we have serving our guests each day," added Morhous. "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."
As a third-generation leader in the family-owned business, Morhous has been a TracFanatic since birth, the company stated. In her 11 years with RaceTrac, she has served as director of strategy and development, executive director of strategy and solutions, executive director of Energy Dispatch, vice president of Energy Dispatch, and most recently as president of RaceTrac Inc. Prior to joining the company, Natalie worked as a consultant with SRA Touchstone Consulting Group and Acquisition Solutions Inc.
Headquartered in Atlanta, RaceTrac is the 22nd largest privately held company in the United States, and has nearly 800 retail locations representing the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands in 13 states. RaceTrac employs more than 10,500 team members across RaceTrac, RaceWay and affiliated companies Metroplex Energy and Energy Dispatch.