After some mid-week changes, the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing team headed to Mansfield Motorsports Park with high hopes for its new developmental rookie driver, Ryan Mathews.

Mathews had no prior NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series experience, so his focus in practice was on adjusting to the truck and the track itself. Mathews took a slow and steady approach and was faster and faster with each lap. By the final practice session, Mathews and the No. 36 team felt confident that they had a truck that could run among the top 10.

An early qualifying draw was not what the No. 36 team was looking forward to after a short rain delay; however, Mathews ran the best he could under the unfavorable conditions and qualified his truck in the 24th position.

The race began on time but only lasted 15 laps before the caution flag waved for rain. After several scattered bouts of rain, the race finally restarted an hour and a half later around 3 p.m.

On lap 34, crew chief Doug Wolcott called for four tires and fuel on the No. 36 truck. Unfortunate circumstances during the pit stop caused the team go a lap down early in the race and relegated Mathews to the 35th position. This minor difficulty did not dampen the team's spirit because it knew there was plenty of time left to make up for it.

The handling of the No. 36 truck was too tight with the new set of tires, so Mathews informed his crew that there needed to be a few adjustments made during the next stop. Those adjustments were made to truck during a caution period on lap 98.

Mathews continued to charge ahead and pick up positions one by one within the next 20 laps. By lap 128, he was running in 27th position.

Mathews sustained minimal damage to his truck during an on-track incident. Fortunately, the damage did not affect the handling of the truck, and Mathews was good to continue on with the race.

There were several cautions within the last half of the race, and the handling of Mathews' truck was feeling a little loose around the corners, but he persevered through it all and finished 18th.

Catch Mathews and the rest of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers this weekend in Dover, D.E.