Ryan Mathews showed how cool, calm and collected he could be under difficult circumstances, despite having never competed at Texas Motor Speedway.

The handling of Mathews' truck was tight during the practice sessions Thursday, yet he slowly worked his way up the speed charts. The No. 36 crew made several adjustments to the truck, and Mathews learned a great deal about the 1.5-mile speedway.

Crew chief Doug Wolcott had set the No. 36 Toyota Tundra up for a fast time in qualifying, and Mathews backed it up with a 30.088-second lap. Mathews would start his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race from the 13th position.

The green flag waved over the field to start the 169-lap event, and Mathews immediately reported to his crew that the handling of his truck was free. Mathews dove down pit road for a splash of fuel on lap 19, during the second caution period of the night.

Many trucks opted not to pit, so Mathews restarted 22nd on lap 24. He held his position throughout the next 40 laps, and the truck eventually developed a bad vibration.

The vibrations forced Mathews to pit under green flag conditions on lap 70. He stopped for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. The stop put him three laps behind the leader.

Still searching for an answer for his vibrations, Mathews pitted under caution on lap 79. The crew checked the left rear and topped off the fuel tank before sending Mathews back on the track in 25th place for the lap 88 restart.

With the vibrations getting worse by the lap, Mathews dove down pit road under green flag conditions again. He took four tires and fuel, but the crew still found no answer for the vibration issue. Mathews lost three more laps during the process.

With many leaders having to pit under green flag conditions as well, Mathews got one of his laps back. Despite the continuing vibrations, Mathews' truck finally adapted to the track. He had the fastest truck in the field on lap 134, and he stood in the 21st position when the checkered flag waved.

Mathews will join the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams next weekend in at Michigan International Speedway. The race will be televised on SPEED Saturday, June 16.