Speedway? Where Did the Howdy’s Convenience Stores in El Paso Go?

Many El Pasoans have noticed a change at the pump -- dozens of Speedway convenience stores have popped up around town in locations that used to be Howdy’s for many years.

If you've been wondering what happened to all the Howdy's around El Paso here’s what 93.1 KISS-FM has learned.

“Speedway” is the result of a series of mergers in the oil business that started with the purchase in 2017 of El Paso’s Western Refining, owned at the time by El Paso billionaire Paul Foster, by the San Antonio-based petroleum company Andeavor. The sale included the Howdy’s gas stations, which Western Refining had operated since 2011.

Then, in October 2018, Marathon Petroleum acquired Andeavor, and recently begun the process of rebranding all the newly acquired Howdy’s convenience stores to its Speedway identity.

Other than the new signage and color scheme, certain changes inside the store and technology upgrades at the pump can be expected.

With approximately 3,900 stores located coast to coast, Speedway is the nation's second largest company owned and operated convenience store chain.