Josh Berry, set to embark on his first full-time season at the highest level of NASCAR, went to high school with Taylor Swift in Hendersonville, Tennessee but there isn’t much to the story beyond that.
“I want to say that I was a freshman and she was maybe a sophomore or junior,” Berry said during Daytona 500 Media Day on Wednesday. “I’d have to go back and look through the yearbooks. I’m sure my dad has them somewhere.”
Berry got a quick inclination that Swift could eventually become the star she became.
“One thing that stands out, I do remember her singing during the talent show, and we were like, ‘hey, she’s alright,’ you know what I mean,” Berry said. “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. A couple of friends of friends knew her but I didn’t know her personally but we did go to the same school.”
Berry didn’t know her personally but it’s also not the only small world coincidence from his childhood.
“Yeah, yeah, sometimes it gets made out like we’re buddies, which is definitely not the case,” he said. “We were in the same school and it’s kind of interesting, a small world, I guess. I went to middle school with (Indianapolis 500 winner) Josef Newgarden too.
“He raced and I don’t think he knew I raced too. A lot of funny coincidences looking back on it now.”
Did Berry at least find a way to get his yearbook signed by Swift?
“No, no, I would have already sold it by now,” he said with a hearty laugh.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.