Carquest Corporation is an American automotive parts distribution network that is currently owned and operated by

Advance Auto Parts Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (Advance) is an American automotive aftermarket parts provider. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, it serves both professional installer and do it yourself (DIY) customers. As of July 13, 2019, Advance operated 4 ...

via independent retailers associated with the network. As of October 4, 2014 Advance operated 5,305 stores, 109 Worldpac branches. Advance Auto Parts and Carquest Auto Parts employs approximately 75,000 employees.

History

The Carquest marketing alliance and distribution network was formed in 1974 by O. Temple Sloan of General Parts, Dan Bock of Bobro Products, and Joe Hughes of Indiana Parts Warehouse. Link
via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

. In response to competition from high-volume retail stores, Sloan believed "that programmed distribution through a cooperative alliance would be the most effective means to remain competitive." According to a 1994 ''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

'' article, the company was "made up of 14 distributing companies operating 64 Carquest Auto Parts Stores throughout the United States" at that time. General Parts was the largest member with General Parts owning 1,400 out of Carquest’s 3,400 auto parts stores across North America by 2011. O. Temple Sloan Jr. started General Parts in 1961. Founding member Bobro was later sold to White Plains Automotive in 1984 and renamed B.W.P. Distributors. BWP was later acquired by Advance Auto in 2012. Dan Bock later served as president of Carquest. Founding member Indiana Parts Warehouse was acquired by the third founder General Parts in 1991. Indiana Parts had served 90 locations. Carquest acquired Worldpac in 2004, but kept its operations separate. General Parts received $258 million in 2011 for selling 33 of the company’s distribution centers and office buildings in a long-term sale-leaseback deal. In June 2012, Carquest Auto Parts relaunched its Carquest.com website, offering buy online, pick up in store commerce. In December 2012,

acquired warehouse distributor B.W.P. Distributors, which supplied the Northeastern United States. On October 16, 2013 it was announced that Carquest would be acquired by Advance Auto Parts, Inc in an all-cash transaction estimated at approximately $2 billion dollars. The deal was finalized on January 3, 2014. Carquest members now include Advance Auto Parts, Automotive Warehouse of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, CAP Warehouse of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and Muffler Warehouse of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. In 2021, Advance Auto Parts announced plans to open retail stores under the Carquest name.

WorldPac

WorldPac was formed in 1995 by the merger of WorldWide Trading Corp. (WWTC) and Imported Parts and Accessories (IMPAC). WORLDPAC, which specializes in providing hard to find aftermarket parts for imported vehicles, was acquired by Carquest in 2004 and by Advance Auto Parts on January 2, 2014 when General Parts International was merged into Advance.

Sponsorships

Carquest was the title right sponsor of the Carquest Auto Parts

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in

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until 2016.. The event took place annually in February and aired on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

. Carquest was the official auto parts supplier of Hendrick Motorsports until the end of the 2011 season. Kellogg's and Carquest announced on May 26, 2006 a unique three-year agreement with Hendrick Motorsports that made the two companies co-primary sponsors of the No. 5 Chevrolets driven by

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...

in the

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

. On September 9, 2007, the two companies announced

Casey Mears Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR's three national series including 15 seasons in the Cup Series, SCORE International, and the Stadium Super ...

will drive the No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2008

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Sprint Cup Series. In 2008, Hendrick Motorsports announced that

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...

, a seasoned veteran would be driving the car in 2009. Carquest continued to sponsor Mark Martin in 2010 and 2011. Carquest Auto Parts has primary sponsor placement in eight points races on the No. 5 Chevrolet driven by Mark Martin during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Carquest Auto Parts joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2002 as an associate sponsor of Chevrolets driven by

Ricky Hendrick Joseph Riddick "Ricky" Hendrick IV (April 2, 1980 – October 24, 2004) was an American stock car racing driver and partial owner at Hendrick Motorsports, a NASCAR team that his father Rick Hendrick founded. He was born in Charlotte, North Ca ...

in the NASCAR Busch Series. The relationship carried over to the following season, resulting in a

Busch Series championship with driver

Brian Vickers Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the injured ...

, and has since transitioned into the

Sprint Cup Series. The company sponsored the Carquest Bowl (now the Cheez-It Bowl) from 1994–1997. The company sponsored three-time IHRA Drag Racing Top Fuel Champion Paul Romine from 1997–2004 and from 2001-2004 was associated with the No. 2 Team

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* Åse (disambiguation) * ...

Craftsman Truck driven by

Scott Riggs Russell Scott Riggs (born January 1, 1971) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the 92 for RBR Enterprises in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Racing career Early career Riggs was born in Bahama, Nort ...

and

Jason Leffler Jason Charles Leffler (September 16, 1975 – June 12, 2013) was an American professional open-wheel and stock car racing driver. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks, competing in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 before moving to primaril ...

. It also sponsored NHRA drag races from 2003 - 2007. Most recently the company sponsored the #92 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford driven by

David Gilliland David Leonard Gilliland (born April 1, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. Since 2017, he has operated David Gilliland Racing, a team that races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, ...

as part of a one race deal in which Carquest adorned the hood and Black's Tire adorned the side. In 2022, Advance Auto Parts entered an exclusive partnership with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, which made Carquest an official auto parts retailer for the team.

References

{{reflist

External links

Advance Auto Parts Investor Relations

Carquest Auto Parts (E-Commerce)

Carquest Canada

Worldpac official website

Tech-Net Professional Auto Service official website

Carquest Batteries official website

Carquest Technical Institute official website
Companies based in Raleigh, North Carolina Automotive part retailers of the United States 1974 establishments in North Carolina American companies established in 1974 Retail companies established in 1974 2014 mergers and acquisitions