Wake County Speedway will trade its usual roar of engines for a glowing nighttime footrace on October 10, when the Wake County Sheriff's Office hosts its Race for the Checkered Flag 5K to benefit Special Olympics North Carolina. First responder vehicles will illuminate the quarter-mile oval for the evening run, with a Touch-A-Truck vehicle showcase kicking off the afternoon before runners hit the track.
According to the Wake County Sheriff's Office, Touch-A-Truck begins at 3 p.m. at the speedway, located at 2109 Simpkins Road in Raleigh, giving families a chance to explore first responder vehicles up close. Race registration opens at 4:30 p.m., and the 5K itself starts at 6 p.m. Entry costs $25 for registration alone or $35 for registration plus a T-shirt, and participants can register or donate at tinyurl.com/goforgold5k. The event is organized under the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, and current Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe leads the agency behind it.
A Sheriff's Office With a Recent Track Record
Rowe, a U.S. Army veteran with 28 years of prior service inside the Wake County Sheriff's Office, was elected sheriff in November 2022 on a platform that emphasized community outreach and public trust, according to Enlace Latino NC. That outreach focus has translated into recognition from the charity itself: in March 2026, Special Olympics North Carolina presented the Wake County Sheriff's Office with its INSPIRE Award, honoring the agency for outstanding fundraising, state event participation, and creative community outreach through the Law Enforcement Torch Run, per Special Olympics North Carolina. The award specifically singles out agencies that motivate other organizations to champion community inclusion.
Racing Heritage Meets a Statewide Cause
The venue hosting the glow run has its own local legacy. Wake County Speedway was established in 1962 by Glenn and Marvin Simpkins as a quarter-mile dirt track and was paved with asphalt before the 1987 racing season, according to the Official Site Of NASCAR. Known as America's Favorite Bullring, the track sits about 15 minutes south of downtown Raleigh in Garner and became NASCAR-sanctioned in 2020, making it one of only four operating NASCAR-sanctioned racetracks in North Carolina. It received state infrastructure funding from North Carolina's Motorsports Relief Fund in 2023 for a full repaving project that used roughly 1,000 tons of asphalt to modernize the oval, per Wikipedia.
Part of a Statewide Fundraising Push
The speedway event is one piece of a much larger effort. Special Olympics North Carolina's Law Enforcement Torch Run program raised $2.31 million in 2025, pushing the cumulative total raised for the state program since 1987 past $37 million, according to Special Olympics North Carolina. Nearly 2,000 officers representing more than 200 state and local agencies take part statewide each year, supporting close to 53,000 athletes and Unified partners across all 100 North Carolina counties in 20 Olympic-type sports.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run movement itself traces back to 1981, founded by then-Wichita, Kansas Police Chief Richard LaMunyon. It has since raised more than $1.1 billion globally for Special Olympics, with more than 110,000 officers worldwide participating annually as what the organization calls Guardians of the Flame. In May 2026, more than 200 North Carolina law enforcement agencies carried the Flame of Hope across 2,000 miles in a month-long relay that culminated at the Special Olympics North Carolina Summer Games in Raleigh, an event that drew more than 1,500 athletes and Unified partners to NC State University and other Triangle-area venues.
More Fundraisers on the Calendar
Wake County's speedway run follows a busy fall calendar of similar events tied to the Torch Run network. Special Olympics North Carolina's Over the Edge fundraiser in downtown Raleigh, held in September 2026, asks participants to raise at least $1,000 to rappel 17 stories down One City Plaza. Nearby, the Wake Forest Police Department has run its own Touch-A-Truck and Law Enforcement Torch Run fundraiser, bringing a Humvee and police boat to a similar community showcase in August, and Wake Forest officers have also served tables for a Tip-a-Cop fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse to support the same cause.
Taken together, the Race for the Checkered Flag 5K reflects how Triangle-area law enforcement agencies keep finding new ways to turn public engagement into fundraising, whether through vehicle displays, restaurant tip nights, building rappels, or now a glow run circling a historic North Carolina short track.
