I saw this on the news this morning and I'm still shocked at how he was able to walk away from that.

The simple reason why Dale Earnhardt didn't walk away is because he wasn't wearing a HANS device.

He made Jr. wear one, but not himself.

I won't dispute that. The HANS device would have saved his life, but he still would have been pretty badly banged up. McDowell will just be a little sore for a few days...

He sure was on the gas late into that corner..

SAFER and similar styled racing barriers are certainly one of the biggest saftey improvements in auto racing. Good track design can also make it MUCH safer, obviously Nascar ovals can't have the huge paved run-offs of the newer road course, and F1 circuits, but they have come a long way.

The one with Gordon @ vegas this year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErWPGQBzlV0) highlights probably the biggest issue with Nascar tracks at this point.