Sports

After meeting Danica Patrick, Riverhead girls appear on ESPN.com

TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES PHOTO | Riverhead sisters Logann and Janelle Carey pose last July with race car driver Danica Patrick. The photo appeared on an ESPN story that was published Friday.

Ed Carey of Riverhead has always been a big racing fan. His enthusiasm for the sport spread to his two daughters, Janelle and Logann, whose favorite race car driver is, naturally, Danica Patrick.

Last July during a family vacation through New England, Mr. Carey and his wife visited the New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Janelle and Logann during qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Mr. Carey said he was able to secure garage passes, which granted them close access to some of the action.

“Right away the girls spotted Danica,” Mr. Carey recalled.

The girls yelled out to Danica and were able to get a moment with the famed driver, who posed for pictures and signed autographs.

“The girls were tickled to death,” Mr. Carey said.

Fast forward seven and a half months later and Mr. Carey, a Riverhead fireman, was at the firehouse yesterday when he got a phone call. He was told to go onto ESPN.com.

Prominently featured was a story on Danica Patrick and how she’s become such a big a role model for girls. The picture that accompanied the story was of Janelle, 13, and Logann, 9.

Getty Images photographer Tom Pennington happened to snap a shot of the two girls when they were alongside Danica Patrick.

“Pretty cool,” Mr. Carey said.

To read the full ESPN story, click here.

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