"There were like 10 princesses around" - When Josef Newgarden shared the fairytale story of his first meeting with wife Ashley

Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden once revealed how he met his wife Ashley Welch over a decade ago. They have been married for over five years.

Team Penske driver Newgarden remains one of the most popular figures on the IndyCar grid. The 34-year-old is a two-time IndyCar Series champion and a two-time Indy 500 winner, having won both races consecutively in the last two editions.

While he remains one of the icons of the sport when on the grid, Newgarden’s personal life is just as captivating. The story of how he met Ashley Welch is certainly one of the most romantic ones.

In an interview on the Shawn and Andrew Podcast last year, the couple revealed how they met. It started when a 20-year-old Newgarden took his mom to a children's restaurant to celebrate Christmas.

Ashley Welch began:

"It's a very weird story. It sounds fake, and not that's why I always preface it before. Like, it does sound like a made up story."

Josef Newgarden then continued:

"I feel like people might think it's creepy. It's not creepy. I was 20. It was right after my rookie season in 2012. We went to Disney World with my family. It was actually my mom's birthday just right around Christmas."

"We were there on Christmas Day. This was like a whole family trip. I set up a lot of the occasions. Like, I was setting up reservations, I set up this dinner for my mom on Christmas Night," he added.

Josef Newgarden planned the dinner reservation at Cinderella’s Castle, where guests are entertained by various Disney princesses. As fate had it, his future wife was portraying Ariel that night, as she couldn't go home for Christmas. The Team Penske driver continued:

"So, Ashley comes to the table as Ariel, and I was like, 'who?'. I was very captivated by Ashley. There were like 10 princesses around but I was very interested in Ariel. She had a very nice dress on that evening."

"We had like a funny little back and forth. I was trying to throw her off her princess game. She was like, she's supposed to be in character, and I was like, 'I'm going to get her to break character," he added.

Later that night, Ashley reached out via email, and the two connected. Just two weeks later, they went on their first official date, marking the beginning of their relationship.

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Exploring more about Ashley's Japanese connection and her relationship with Josef Newgarden

Ashley Welch was an actress for Disney when she met Josef Newgarden. According to the US Magazine, she even performed at Tokyo Disneyland when she was in Japan from 2013 to 2014.

During her time abroad, shortly after college, she portrayed Disney characters like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was also in Japan when she got engaged to his now-husband Josef Newgarden.

On October 7, 2018, after years of being together, Newgarden announced that he and Ashley were engaged. The proposal took place during a trip to Kyoto.

The couple tied the knot in the fall of 2019 in Nashville, and welcomed their first child, Kota Nicolai Newgarden, in 2022. In an Instagram post after his birth, Ashley revealed the meaning of his name. The story is rooted in their romantic trip to Kyoto, as the word "Kota" was Japanese for "happiness and good fortune."