How Much Does a Raceway Franchise Owner Make?

It does not disclose Raceway sales, operating profit, EBITDA, net income, cash flow or owner compensation. That is the official answer for the period and franchised-unit population covered by the document. Item 19 states that RW Venture Holdings, Inc. makes no representation about past outlet performance or a franchisee’s future financial performance. It may provide actual records only for an existing outlet a buyer is considering. See 2026 Raceway FDD, Item 19, p. 35, and the FTC consumer guide to evaluating franchise earnings claims.

The absence of an Item 19 result means no published number can properly be called “average Raceway owner income.” Revenue also cannot be treated as earnings. The model below therefore starts with the structure disclosed in Items 5, 6, 7, 15, 19 and 20, then applies external benchmarks cautiously.

The range is estimated, not official. It models one stabilized Raceway store using a broad 2025 U.S. convenience-store inside-sales anchor, an explicit 80%–120% revenue spread, three residual operating-margin assumptions and the FDD’s one-cent-per-gallon commission. It does not represent a probability distribution, a forecast for a particular site or a claim that a midpoint is most likely.

What revenue figure anchors the model?

The central benchmark is approximately $2.25 million of annual inside sales. NACS reported $341.2 billion of U.S. in-store convenience sales in 2025 and 151,975 convenience stores, producing a derived broad-channel average of about $2.245 million per store. NACS says its operating dataset included submissions representing more than 35,000 stores. The benchmark is not Raceway-specific and does not adjust for the FDD’s very wide 500–6,000-square-foot store range. See the NACS 2025 in-store sales release and the Census definition of NAICS 457110, Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores.

What margin assumptions are applied?

The model uses 1.5%, 2.5% and 3.5% of inside sales as editorial residual-margin assumptions. Each margin is intended to be after normal unit-level operating expenses, including merchandise cost, payroll with a paid manager, rent, payment-card expense, utilities, maintenance, shrink and current recurring franchise charges. The range is calibrated only as a reasonableness check against 2023 IRS Schedule C data for the broad “gasoline stations” group, which reported roughly $33,000 of average net income less deficit across all returns and roughly $84,000 of average net income among returns with positive net income. Those IRS data are not Raceway data, include sole proprietorships and use a different revenue denominator, so the IRS margin is not imported directly. See the IRS nonfarm sole-proprietorship tables.

The central fuel benchmark contributes about $9,873 a year. NACS reports 322 fueling transactions per day at 8.4 gallons per transaction for the average convenience store. Annualizing those figures produces approximately 987,252 gallons; the FDD’s one-cent commission produces $9,872.52 before the model’s 80% and 120% scenario adjustments. See the NACS fuel and transaction benchmarks.

• Included in the residual-margin assumptionNormal merchandise cost, payroll and payroll burden, a paid day-to-day manager, rent, card fees, utilities, maintenance, shrink, royalty, technology and applicable current recurring equipment charges.
• Excluded from estimated pre-tax owner earningsPersonal income taxes, financing interest, financing principal, depreciation and amortization, major capital expenditures, initial investment and any owner salary or draw.
• Store maturityThe scenario represents a stabilized operating year. It does not model opening ramp-up, seasonal partial years, remodel disruption or a distressed transfer.
• No double charge for franchise feesThe all-in residual-margin assumption is intended to absorb recurring fees, so the $21,600–$30,972 current fixed charge is not subtracted again.

Active operation can raise total owner benefit by roughly $53,380 in this model, but it does not create the same amount of passive profit. The owner-operator scenario assumes the owner replaces one paid first-line retail supervisor. It adds the May 2025 BLS national mean wage of $53,380 to the manager-run residual. That increment is the market value of labor performed by the owner, not an Item 19 profit figure and not a distribution available without work. See the BLS May 2025 national wage table.

Raceway is not designed as a fully passive single-unit holding. Item 15 requires an approved Operating Principal who owns at least 10% of the franchisee entity, is responsible for overall management and spends a minimum of 25 hours on the premises. Even where full-time managers supervise daily operations, the Operating Principal and other owners must remain involved in overall management. See 2026 Raceway FDD, Item 15, p. 25.

Rent, labor and inside-store gross margin are the largest practical variables. The 2026 FDD lists monthly rent from $7,000 to $40,000, consisting of base and percentage rent—a $396,000 annual spread between the low and high endpoints. That range is too wide to infer a typical location, but it shows why a site-specific lease and historical operating statement matter more than a national average.

Source: 2026 Raceway FDD, Item 6, pp. 6–9. The initial franchise fee, security deposit and Item 7 startup investment are not deducted from one year of revenue because they are initial or capital uses of cash, not recurring annual operating expenses.

Confidence is limited because no same-brand revenue or profit distribution exists in Item 19. The model must bridge from a broad U.S. channel benchmark to a Raceway format whose stores can range from approximately 500 to 6,000 square feet, may have different food programs and often operate around the clock. The official RaceWay franchise opportunity page emphasizes inside-store revenue streams, while the official RaceWay brand overview describes a network of independently operated locations; neither source publishes owner profit.

Item 20 provides system structure, not economics. At December 31, 2025, the FDD reported 237 franchised outlets and no company-owned outlets. During 2025, six outlets opened, eight transferred to new owners and five ceased operations for reasons other than termination, non-renewal or franchisor reacquisition. Those counts do not establish whether a typical owner earned a profit, but they identify franchisees and transfer histories that a buyer should investigate. See 2026 Raceway FDD, Item 20, pp. 35–38.

• Estimated pre-tax owner earningsCash operating result after normal unit expenses and current recurring franchise charges, before personal income taxes, financing interest and principal, depreciation, amortization and major capital spending.
• Estimated owner-operator benefitEstimated pre-tax owner earnings plus the market wage for a retail-supervisor role performed by the owner. It is not pure business profit.
• Debt-service effectThe model excludes financing because the FDD does not provide buyer loan terms. Interest and principal payments would reduce owner cash available dollar-for-dollar according to the actual loan structure.
• Personal taxesNo after-tax estimate is published. Federal and state outcomes depend on entity form, jurisdiction, deductions and owner circumstances.

Replace every broad assumption with location-level written evidence. For an existing store, the official RaceWay FAQ says historical fuel volume and inside sales may be provided, while warning that prior results are not guaranteed. The FTC also recommends comparing written claims with Item 19, requesting substantiation and interviewing current and former franchisees.

• Obtain the exact outlet recordsRequest at least three full years of monthly inside sales, category gross margin, payroll, rent, card fees, utilities, maintenance, shrink, franchise charges and owner compensation for the specific location.
• Reconcile fuel economicsVerify actual gallons, one-cent commission receipts, service reimbursements, fuel losses and any operational obligations tied to the Gasoline Services Agreement.
• Separate owner labor from business profitAsk whether the seller works shifts, manages employees, performs purchasing or bookkeeping, and how much replacement payroll would be required.
• Test the actual leaseModel base rent, percentage rent, escalation, hours, required staffing and the remaining lease term rather than using the FDD’s systemwide range.
• Interview a comparable cohortUse Item 20 and Exhibits H and I to speak with operators of similar square footage, food program, traffic pattern, state and ownership structure, including transferred and former outlets.
• Document every earnings statementConfirm that any seller or broker claim is either in Item 19, supported by the specific outlet’s actual records, or clearly identified as the buyer’s own projection.