Hunter-Reay enjoys first win

Ryan Hunter-Reay celebrates his win with a burnout after the IndyCar Series' Watkins Glen Camping World Grand Prix.

WATKINS GLEN // Ryan Hunter-Reay took advantage of a spin by the series leader Scott Dixon to win the IndyCar Series Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International on Sunday night. It was Hunter-Reay's first series victory in his 16th career start. Darren Manning was a surprise second, followed by Tony Kanaan, Buddy Rice and Marco Andretti. Hunter-Reay said of his maiden victory: "I'm so happy I can't even tell you what this means to me."

Dixon, who had won this race the past three years, was running second while the field was under caution on lap 49 when he spun in the 10th turn and was hit by pole sitter Ryan Briscoe, who was third. Dixon said. "I was just trying to burn off the front tyres a bit for the restart and I got a little aggressive and it snapped around on me." Dixon finished 11th and now leads Helio Castroneves by 48 points, with Kanaan a further 18 adrift. Castroneves finished 16th after suffering from gearbox problems early in the race. Briscoe could only recover to finish 12th.

Briscoe said: "It is unfortunate, and I wish he could have messed up and left us out of it. But that is life I guess." Hunter-Reay was running fourth at the time of Dixon's spin, and moved up behind Manning prior to the restart. He then overtook Manning easily in the first turn of the lap 51 restart and cruised to the win over the remaining nine laps. * PA Sport