GAS CITY, Ind. — Shane Cottle christened his full meal deal with Contos Racing by capturing the season opener for the USAC National Sprint Car Series Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway. 
On the first night of a planned Friday/Saturday doubleheader, Cottle outran Dustin Morgan, Brad Sweet and defending series champion Levi Jones for the victory.
“It means everything,” Cottle said after the victory on his home track. “It means we’re on top. If you come here and don’t make the show, you’re struggling to chase the points all year. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum and the points championship.”
Although the box score only shows one lead change, when Cottle pushed the Contos’s Chalk under Sweet on lap 18, it was a furious battle, with Jones and Cottle constantly trading spots and both passing Sweet, only to be repassed, throughout the race. 
Sweet took the lead from Morgan, the polesitter, on the opening circuit, with Cottle following on the next lap. The track was tricky, with nearly all of the drivers working to stay as low as possible, not slide out of the moisture, spin their tires and get passed.  Jones was one of the few to try the top line, but wasn’t able to maintain his run off the turns. Morgan lurked in fourth, watching the dice for the lead and smartly pressing the M&M DRC into second in the closing laps.
A track champion in weekly racing at Gas City, Cottle put that experience to use. On the 18th circuit, Sweet slipped off the bottom in turn four and nearly came to a stop as he struggled for grip, while Cottle quickly drove through the opening. On the 27th circuit, Morgan grabbed second in turn four. Veteran Dave Darland claimed an impressive fifth-place finish after taking a provisional and starting at the tail.
“If your car wasn’t free to run it, you were in trouble,” Cottle said. “Our car was too tight most of the night and we kept tuning on the shocks and finally got where we could halfway get around the corner.”
Jones called it a chess match.  “I got by Cottle once and Sweet messed up the next corner and we both pushed up and Cottle got by both of us,” he explained. “I was just trying to make the top work so that we could maybe get a run on those guys and slam the door into one but it just never played out that way.”
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Brady Bacon, Kahne 99, 12.924; 2. Levi Jones, Stewart 20, 13.062; 3. Chad Boat, Boat 30, 13.124; 4. Shane Cottle, Contos 4, 13.128; 5. Brad Sweet, Kahne 9, 13.159; 6. Daron Clayton, R & B 10, 13.210; 7. Dustin Morgan, M & M 93, 13.220; 8. Brandon Petty, Walker/Guiducci 11, 13.253; 9. Kenny Biro, Biro 22, 13.317; 10. Robert Ballou, MPHG 81, 13.449; 11. Chris Windom, Windom 17, 13.474; 12. Jesse Hockett, VKCC 75, 13.514; 13. Scotty Weir, Edison 10e, 13.554; 14. Brett Burdette, Burdette 17b, 13.560; 15. Bill Rose, Rose 6, 13.662; 16. Josh Spencer, Batcheldor 66, 13.676; 17. Kyle Robbins, Robbins 17r, 13.677; 18. Jon Stanbrough, Fox 53, 13.700; 19. Cole Whitt, Kunz 67k, 13.742; 20. Hunter Schuerenberg, Triple Crown 1h, 13.762; 21. Damion Gardner, Leffler 71, 13.772; 22. Matt Goodnight, Goodnight 39, 13.783; 23. Ted Hines, Hines 12, 13.791; 24. Josh Clemons, Clemons 71c, 13.844; 25. Jonathan Hendrick, Hendrick 68, 13.862; 26. Thomas Meseraull, R & B 10t, 13.863; 27. Steve Ott, Ott 0t, 13.888; 28. Jerry Coons, Jr., Dynamics 69, 14.015; 29. Bret Mellenberndt, Mellenberndt 97, 14.022; 30. Rex Norris III, Norris 63, 14.028; 31. Darren Hagen, Kunz 67, 14.058; 32. Dave Darland, Pace 44, 14.089; 33. Brad Kuhn, 2B Racing 2b, 14.091; 34. Blake Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick 10f, 14.095; 35. Steve Barth, Barth 14b, 14.168; 36. Matt Westfall, Westfall 54, 14.180; 37. Shane Matthews, Matthews 167, 14.265; 38. Tracy Hines, Stewart 21, 14.298; 39. Casey Shuman, Hazen 57x, 14.497; 40. Billy Puterbaugh, Puterbaugh 16, 14.504; 41. Brady Short, Short 36, 14.566; 42. Dakoda Armstrong, C & A 7A, 14.683; 43. Mat Neely, Reid 2, 14.706; 44. Travis Welpott, Welpott 18, 14.802; 45. Kevin Studley, Studley 57, 14.879; 46. Critter Malone, Phillips 71p, 37.253.
Qualifying Race (8 laps): Fitzpatrick, Kuhn, Westfall, Tracy Hines, Barth, Shuman, Welpott, Puterbaugh, Matthews, Malone, Short, Neely, Armstrong, Studley.
First Heat (10 laps): Weir, Mellenberndt, Biro, Gardner, Sweet, Robbins, Bacon, Hendrick, Fitzpatrick.
Second Heat (10 laps): Stanbrough, Jones, Clayton, Meseraull, Kuhn, Burdette, Goodnight, Norris, Ballou.
Third Heat (10 laps): Hagen, Whitt, Ott, Morgan, Westfall, Windom, Rose, Boat, Ted Hines.
Fourth Heat (10 laps): Coons, Hockett, Clemons, Schuerenberg, Darland, Tracy Hines, Cottle, Petty, Spencer.
Semi (12 laps): Cottle, Sweet, Ballou, Petty, Bacon, Kuhn, Rose, Windom, Boat, Robbins, Westfall, Tracy Hines, Hendrick, Darland, Ted Hines, Burdette, Norris, Fitzpatrick, Goodnight, Spencer.
Feature (30 laps): Cottle, Morgan, Sweet, Jones, Darland, Weir, Ballou, Stanbrough, Whitt, Schuerenberg, Coons, Bacon, Biro, Gardner, Hagen, Ott, Clayton, Mellenberndt, Hockett, Petty, Meseraull, Kuhn, Clemons, Hines.