INQUISITR.COM / Sports

Victory Lane And A Banana-Mayo Sandwich: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Wins ToyotaCare 250

By Tabitha Britt
Published on: 13:35 PST, Apr 23, 2016

Earlier this month, a Dale, Jr. tweet went viral, making the banana-mayo sandwich – for those who aren’t from the south – famous.

Then on Tuesday, inspired by the attention he gained from his casual sandwich pic, he decided to use his trending power to raise money for a worthy cause.

Earnhardt contacted Mike Davis, the communications director for JR Motorsports (the NASCAR team Earnhardt co-owns), and following what was perhaps a lengthy conversation, the two came up with an idea that was revealed via a video titled “Feeding Frenzy” on Thursday.

The website, DaleJrSandwich.com, is accepting donations that will benefit Blessings in a Backpack, a national, non-profit organization that donates food to school children who are at risk of going hungry on the weekends.

“Dale Jr. called me Tuesday night about 8 [p.m. ET] and said, ‘Have you seen the response out of this tweet that I sent out? I can’t believe it. I want to make something good out of it,'” Davis told SB Nation. “We talked for about half an hour and he had already done some serious thinking about it. He just wanted to do something good,” he continued. “This was 100 percent driven by Dale and completely his idea.”

The site is taking donations up until April 23, the date of the Xfinity race at Richmond International Raceway. Earnhardt has pledged to match donations up to $50,000.

Karma must have been on Earnhardt’s side this weekend at Richmond International. Driving the No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, Dale, Jr. won the ToyotaCare 250, scoring his first win behind the wheel for JR Motorsports.

The Saturday win marks Jr.’s 24th career victory in the series – his fourth series win at Richmond International.

Earnhardt built a lead of more than five seconds as the first 125 laps were run-caution free. With just 15 laps to go, a caution flag flew, forcing Earnhardt and 10 other cars on the lead lap to head for the pits.

The chaotic caution caused the race to go on an extra nine laps.

Earnhardt, Jr. led 128 laps, but was beaten off pit road by JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, one of the four drivers contending for a $100,000 bonus. Brennan Poole, another contender for the big bonus, remained on the track on old tires, and when the No. 88 Chevrolet dove underneath him heading into Turn 1, Poole’s car nudged the back of Allgaier’s car, sending him spinning out of the race, allowing Earnhardt to get back in front.

Instead of breaking open a bottle of champagne, Earnhardt, Jr. devoured, what else, but a banana and mayo sandwich.

At the end of the day, Earnhardt’s team did pretty well with Elliott Sadler finishing third and Cole Custer sixth in his first start in the Xfinity Series. After the accident deprived Allgaier of a chance for the bonus, he finished 35th.

Series points leader Daniel Suarez finished fourth, followed by Austin Dillon.

Race Results

Lap length:.75 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

  1. (3) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 149 laps, 0 points.
  1. (2) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 149, 39.
  1. (9) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 149, 38.
  1. (6) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 149, 37.
  1. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 149, 0.
  1. (17) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 149, 0.
  1. (15) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 149, 34.
  1. (16) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 149, 33.
  1. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 149, 0.
  1. (7) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 149, 32.
  1. (18) Ryan Reed, Ford, 149, 30.
  1. (19) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 149, 29.
  1. (12) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 149, 28.
  1. (25) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 149, 27.
  1. (13) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 148, 26.
  1. (11) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 148, 25.
  1. (22) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 148, 0.
  1. (14) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 148, 23.
  1. (21) Jeb Burton, Ford, 148, 22.
  1. (26) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 147, 21.
  1. (20) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 147, 20.
  1. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 147, 19.
  1. (24) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 146, 18.
  1. (29) Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, 146, 17.
  1. (30) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 146, 0.
  1. (32) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 146, 15.
  1. (31) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 146, 14.
  1. (28) B.J. McLeod, Ford, 146, 13.
  1. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 145, 12.
  1. (37) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 144, 11.
  1. (38) Timmy Hill, Dodge, 143, 0.
  1. (36) Todd Peck, Ford, 143, 9.
  1. (5) Matt Tifft, Toyota, accident, 135, 0.
  1. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, accident, 134, 8.
  1. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, accident, 134, 7.
  1. (34) Mike Harmon, Dodge, accident, 123, 5.
  1. (27) Jeff Green, Toyota, brakes, 104, 4.
  1. (35) Carl Long, Dodge, brakes, 17, 3.
  1. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, suspension, 12, 2.
  1. (40) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, transmission, 7, 0.

[Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images]

Share this article: Victory Lane And A Banana-Mayo Sandwich: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Wins ToyotaCare 250
More from Inquisitr