By Gary Graves, USA TODAY  's Toyota was crumpled and scorched, while pieces of foam from the wall he hit nearly head-on at 200 mph were sprinkled across the track.  But within seconds after McDowell's car stopped its barrel roll he was out of the car and waving to cheering spectators who had gasped a minute before watching his horrifying crash Friday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway. As for NASCAR, it had proof that its safety measures were working.  The next-generation vehicle, a bigger, boxier model introduced to the Sprint Cup Series last season and praised for its durability, had passed its first on-track safety test by protecting McDowell from a tragic injury. And while the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers lining the outside walls required repairs that delayed qualifying for Sunday's Samsung 500, it withstood a hard impact that a concrete wall wouldn't have.  NASCAR created those and other measures for those reasons, but officials initially felt more relief than vindication immediately afterward.  "It was a spectacular accident, and anytime a driver gets out and walks away you take a moment to be thankful for that," said Sprint Cup Series director John Darby, also noting Jeff Gordon's hard wreck at Las Vegas last month.  "But the most important thing is that you can't stand still on safety. The car reacted as well as we could ask it to in this incident. You hate to test the new cars this way, but the good parts (in) both incidents is they've shown good absorption in everything we looked for what the car does."  Dale Earnhardt's death following a last-lap accident in the 2001 Daytona 500, the third driver death in a 16-month period, prompted the sanctioning body to revamp its safety policies. Among them was the 2003 installation of the so-called "soft walls," designed to absorb the impact of crashes similar to the one Earnhardt died from.  The cockpit on McDowell's car, which has thicker roll cage tubing and is 2½ inches taller while moving the driver closer to the center, was mostly intact as opposed to its mangled crumple zones. McDowell, 23, sustained no upper-body trauma from the wreck, a payoff from the head and neck restraint, or HANS device, enacted as result of Earnhardt's accident.  "The Car of Tomorrow has a lot of room in it and allows for some impact like we saw today," said McDowell, who will make his second career start for Michael Waltrip Racing in the No. 00 Camry on Sunday. "That was a violent wreck and I lived through all of it. I felt every roll and I'm standing here right now (with) no problems, maybe a few little bumps and bruises."  "But other than that I'm fine. I'm glad I gave the belts an extra little pull there before I went out for qualifying."  Just before McDowell's incident, Jamie McMurray kicked up dust residue left from oil absorbent applied after engine problems in David Gilliland's Ford dropped fluid on the track. McDowell followed and his rear wobbled slightly upon entering turn one, going sideways when his front wheels hit the gritty absorbent and shot his car up the track.  McDowell flipped eight times while flames flashed from both ends of his car, which landed upright on the backstretch. Despite hitting hard at an odd angle, TV replays showed the SAFER barrier's give and only lost 20 feet of material. Workers replaced that and welded ¼-inch L-plates to avoid leading edges.  "I hate to make that much work for the guys back in the shop," McDowell said. "It's just fortunate that I'm OK. I got to see that (Speed TV) replay, and it wasn't very good. Everyone back at the shop who spends the time putting the seats in and making these cars safe. … That was one of the worst wrecks I've seen in a while, and I'm not excited that I participated in it."  Practice pays off: David Reutimann had to race his way into the Samsung 500, and though practice was better than qualifying, starting sixth marked his best this season.  "I messed up a little bit," Reutimann said after his No. 44 Toyota clocked 188.732 mph. "I was a little bit too aggressive going back to the gas. We should've run a little bit quicker. I'm not sure we could've run what the 88 (pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.) did (at 190.907 mph), but we should've been better than that."  Bigger and better: Tony Stewart raised $800,000 last year and he's still receiving proceeds from last year's Prelude to the Dream all-star charity race. His wish is to one day write fellow driver Kyle Petty a single $1 million check for his Victory Junction Gang Camp for chronically ill children.  Stewart certainly isn't lacking for drivers interested in the dirt track race run at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, which he owns. This year's fourth edition, which supports the Victory Junction Gang Camp II in Kansas City, will match 25 drivers from different series, including many from NASCAR.  The June 4 race will be broadcast on HBO pay-per-view.  "It has been so overwhelming from last year to this year that more drivers want to come than we actually can accommodate, so we basically handed out invitations to the guys who came last year," Stewart said in a news conference. "We actually had guys call starting in February saying, 'hey, if you guys have an opening we'd like to come' and we're almost full. For a racetrack promoter that's only been in it for four years now, it's something I'm very proud of and something I'm very excited about."  Stewart also noted how race fans who can't get to a NASCAR race began arriving up to two weeks early just to make sure they get a ticket to the event.  Different looks: Several cars are featuring new color schemes this weekend to give partial sponsors their moment in the spotlight.  A familiar brand and color returns to Kyle Busch's Toyota, which sport the fluorescent green of Interstate Batteries. The company, a longtime primary sponsor of the No. 18, is making the second of six appearances on the car this season.  Carl Edwards' No. 99 is sponsored by insurance company Aflac, while teammate Greg Biffle has the Dish Network banner in place of 3M. Defending race winner and points leader Jeff Burton, coming off last week's third place run at Martinsville, retained Prilosec OTC on the hood of his No. 31 Chevrolet.  Workplace benefits: Fort Worth-based apparel maker Dickies, which sponsors Texas' fall event in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, will on Saturday announce a contest to select the American Worker of the Year. The winner will get a Ford F-150 truck and VIP tickets to the Nov. 2 Dickies 500 with a chance to win $1 million if their car choice wins the race. Entries will be accepted at www.americanworkeroftheyear.com or where a Dickies item is purchased.  Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.
NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie Michael McDowell walked away virtually unscathed from a horrific tumbling crash during qualifying Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.