Ross Chastain’s NASCAR stock car will be on display in Orillia this weekend.
For the first time, the stock car sponsored by Moose Lodge is touring Canada this month. It will stop in at the Orillia Moose Lodge on Kitchener Street on Sunday, July 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Moose International, an American-based service organization, has 19 lodges in Ontario. The organization sponsors Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Moose car.
“He races the car with our colours four times a year,” explains Maxine Wood, the treasurer and membership chair for the Ontario Moose Association. “The other races of the year you’ll find that he has Moose on both his car and uniform in smaller print.”
Chastain, a member of Moose International, is currently placed sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. During his rookie season last year, Chastain won two different races and finished second in the Cup Series standings.
During last year’s Cup Playoff race at Martinsville, Chastain made history by driving into the Turn 3 wall where he rode it to gain speed and pass five other cars. The move bought him an opportunity to make the final playoff race.
Chastain’s strategy took the racing world by storm but has since been banned by NASCAR for safety reasons.
“We think bringing Chastain’s car here is a great thing for Orillia,” Wood said. “We have a watch party at the Lodge every time he races.”
Chastain will drive the Moose car again next month at Watkins Glen International. Wood says seeing the organization on display at NASCAR races makes her proud.
“The Moose is an organization that supports children and seniors who are residents in Moose facilities,” she explained. “In our communities, we sponsor and donate to different charities and sports teams.”
In Orillia, Moose Lodge 1217 sponsors the Orillia Royals U10 rep team, two local soccer clubs, and an adult baseball team.
“We are a community organization,” Wood explained. “A lot of people don’t know us as well as Rotary or Lions, or they think of us as just a bar, but we are a service organization.”
Wood hopes that bringing Chastain’s car to Orillia will help spread awareness about the services and charities that the Moose Lodge supports.
Everyone is welcome to attend the event to see the car next weekend at no cost, but community members who are able to are asked to donate to one or more of their community partners who will be in attendance.
