The Making of an Oil Empire
Forrest Lucas, founder of Lucas Oil Products, reflects on his journey from long-haul trucker to oil-products producer to race team sponsor.
Growing a company is like raising a child. You don’t really notice how much he’s grown until someone says you’ve raised a good kid.
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You can’t compare a large, publicly traded company to Lucas Oil. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Our net numbers may well be better. We don’t have board meetings, and I empower my people to go ahead and do things themselves. That means we can make more good choices in a day than many corporate giants.
We’ve grown right through the recession because people are keeping their cars and trucks longer and are thinking about maintenance. More than 90% of everything in the auto parts industry that is asked for by brand name will be something we make. I’m very proud of that.