Ryan Hunter-Reay never did catch up with the police officers when he left Watkins Glen International last July. Maybe he'll have the opportunity to thank them this weekend.

"I got pulled over on Friday by state troopers who said they'd let me out of a (speeding) ticket if I won," he said.

Of course, Hunter-Reay did, securing his first IndyCar Series victory in the fourth Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen. No points added to his driver's license, but plenty to his season total. Hunter-Reay followed with five top-10 finishes in the final seven events to wind up eighth in the standings.

"It was a great weekend overall because IZOD planned this big kickoff to their (IndyCar Series) deal and my personal sponsorship," said Hunter-Reay, who will be looking for similar fireworks this weekend in the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. entry for A.J. Foyt Racing. "We had a good Saturday, qualified third and then Sunday I had a good start and just ran really well."

Hunter-Reay benefited from a Lap 49 incident under caution involving Scott Dixon, who was seeking a series-record fourth consecutive victory at The Glen, and the car of polesitter Ryan Briscoe. They were running second and third to Darren Manning when Dixon's No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car spun in Turn 10 as he was warming up the tires and was struck in the rear by Briscoe's No. 6 Team Penske car.

"It was tough to stay with Briscoe and Dixon, who were getting really good fuel mileage, but we were hanging in there," Hunter-Reay said. "Three quarters of the way through the race they got into each other. (Tony) Kanaan and I almost got collected up in it. I couldn't see where I was going; it was just avoiding what came up out of the dust.

"I got through it and from there Darren was in front of me and I knew I had to make it happen, and if it was going to happen it was going to happen in the first corner."

Hunter-Reay overtook Manning, the leader in the same ABC Supply Co. car he'll be driving this weekend, in Turn 1 after a Lap 51 restart and hung on the remaining nine laps that included another restart.

"On cold tires, I got a good restart and stuck it down on the inside of him in Turn 1," he said. "Then I got to the top of the hill, Darren popped to the outside so I stuck to the inside and we held on to it from there."

Hunter-Reay, who competed in Skip Barber and Formula Dodge as a teenager at The Glen, is looking forward to the return engagement on the Independence Day holiday weekend.

"Up unto the Bus Stop you can make a move," he said. "Usually the better place to make a move is the Bus Stop chicane, but it's easier to defend there, too. On restarts, you can definitely get a jump on somebody and take advantage of them.

"It's a beautiful place and then you have the history of the track. It's an amazing racetrack in itself -- all the ascents and descents and the changes in corners, the big, long, flowing corners to short tight 90-degree corners. It has everything you need. It's just an awesome racetrack to drive an IndyCar around. There could be nobody in the stands just me out there in an IndyCar and I'd have a blast."