Josh Berry is en route to his first full-time Cup Series season driving the legendary #4 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) car that Kevin Harvick dominated an entire decade in. But before he enters the Daytona Oval for a taste at top tier stock car racing, he had to address one important question at the NASCAR Media Day on Wednesday: What’s his connection to Taylor Swift?
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Rumors of Berry being friends with the popular singer have been making rounds for a while now. The driver, however, has clarified that they just went to the same high school in Henderson, Tennessee, and share no ties beyond that. While Berry is a native of the town, Swift and her parents moved there when she was 13, hence the crossing of their paths.
The driver said, “I want to say that I was a freshman and she was maybe a sophomore or junior. I’d have to go back and look through the yearbooks. I’m sure my dad has them somewhere.” Though Berry hadn’t been friends with Swift personally, he had been impressed with her voice and songs back then having listened to her at the school’s talent shows.
He added, “A talent show, sometimes they are alright or hit or miss, but Taylor was like, ‘Hey, she’s really good.’ That was like right before the summer break where she made it.” Asked about whether he has had a yearbook from school signed by Swift, he laughed it off with a no and that he would have sold it already if he did.
Interestingly, Swift isn’t the only international superstar that Berry shared his school with. IndyCar icon Josef Newgarden was one of his cohorts as well. With neither knowing the other’s interests in racing at the time, Tony Stewart’s driver can’t help but awe at the coincidence now.
Josh Berry’s 2024 outlook heading to the Daytona 500 for his first start with SHR
Berry and crew chief Rodney Childers have made the most of their offseason with preparatory races in multiple short tracks. Now that they both have found their groove for each other, it is just a matter of time before the chemistry is put to real test. Berry finished 2023 11th in the Xfinity Series with 11 top fives and 18 top tens.
After sporadic appearances in the Cup Series in the last few years, he will be making his 13th start in the tier this Sunday. Though he is only a Rookie in 2024, all the time that he spent behind late models ought to help him hit the ground running.
