Dale Earnhardt Jr. uses his love for banana and mayonnaise sandwiches to raise money for kids

As the nation focused on Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s love of banana and mayonnaise sandwiches Tuesday, NASCAR’s most popular driver became inspired to use that attention in a positive way and raise money for a worthy cause.

The question was how? So Earnhardt telephoned Mike Davis, the communications director for JR Motorsports, the NASCAR team Earnhardt co-owns, and following a lengthy conversation the two cultivated an idea that was unveiled in the form of a humorous video Thursday.

Earnhardt has setup a website -- DaleJrSandwich.com -- 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.

The site will take donations until April 23, the date coinciding with Earnhardt running a Hellman’s sponsored car in the Xfinity race at Richmond International Raceway. Earnhardt has pledged to match donations up to $50,000.

“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.

“This was 100 percent driven by Dale and completely his idea.”

The plan called for a video demonstrating that though many thought banana and mayonnaise sandwiches as a peculiar combination, JRM in fact considered them a treat to be enjoyed on a daily basis.

But before shooting could begin, David first had to coordinate a grocery store run. What he picked up was five bushels of bananas (totaling approximately 40 bananas), two squeezable bottles and one large jar of Hellman’s mayonnaise to be used during production.

Filming began Wednesday morning, continued throughout the day and wasn’t concluded until late Thursday morning. Earnhardt arrived at JRM’s headquarters to record his scene late Wednesday afternoon, coming directly from a promotional appearance in Tallahassee, Fla.

“He really wanted to do something good and we put this whole thing together within 24 hours,” Davis said. “I would love to tell you that this is some big thought out process -- I almost wish it was, we’d probably do it a lot better -- but it wasn’t. We knew if we wanted to have the impact we wanted to have and raise some money we had to strike while the iron was hot.”

Earnhardt has shared his affinity for banana and mayonnaise sandwiches before on social media, but for whatever reason his tweet Tuesday made headlines. The subject trended on Twitter and national morning TV news shows including those on ABC, CNN and NBC all devoted time to Earnhardt declaring it his favorite sandwich on Wednesday.

“I can’t believe this has gotten as much attention as it has,” Davis said. “It baffles me. Dale Jr. sends a tweet about bananas and mayonnaise sandwiches and the next thing you know, everyone is talking about it.

“Now, we’re trying to do some good with all the attention.”