"I started out the race sore and in a little pain, but it wasn't too bad," McDowell said. "It didn't take very long until I felt it. I really want to thank my crew for absolutely everything. They did a great job with what they were faced with on Friday. This is only our second race and we are only in the beginning stages. We are just going to keep plugging away to make our cars better at the 1.5-mile tracks."

His finish kept his Michael Waltrip Racing team inside the top 35 (28th place) owner points guaranteeing him a starting spot in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday.

"I feel really bad about the points situation," said McDowell. "It should be me trying to make the races and not David (Reutimann) because he earned it. I don't know what happened there, but he was out of the race early at Texas."

Following the Samsung 500 Sunday, McDowell departed to Statesville (N.C.) with all of Michael Waltrip Racing's Cup teams to board Michael Waltrip's King Air for New York. Because McDowell's accident garnered national attention, he and his wife were invited to the set of The Today Show for an interview with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira this morning. Afterwards, McDowell went in studio at MSNBC and Inside Edition. Tomorrow, he will travel to Burbank, Calif. to be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

"My wife and I have had a nice time doing all the shows," McDowell said. "This has been great exposure for the sport. NASCAR has done a tremendous job in making the cars safe."

"This has been great exposure for the sport. NASCAR has done a tremendous job in making the cars safe." - Michael McDowell

McDowell has enjoyed the whirlwind tour, but more importantly he wants to see his family and friends so that they can see firsthand he is doing fine. This week is a homecoming of sorts for the McDowell's as they go back to their hometown of Glendale, Arizona. The timing could not be more perfect for him and his family after the weekend they have endured.

"It has been nonstop since Friday," McDowell said. "We cannot wait to arrive into the Glendale (Ariz.) area to see all of our family and friends. Only Jami and my friend Brian (Hosford) were at the track when the accident happened. I'm so thankful they were there. We're all looking forward to going back home."

Live coverage of the Subway Fresh Fit begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on FOX and 8:30 p.m. Eastern on MRN Radio.

QUALIFYING UPDATE

McDOWELL WALKS AWAY FROM VIOLENT QUALIFYING CRASH

Heading into Turn 1 on his second qualifying lap, McDowell's car twitched and shot up the track violently hitting the SAFER barrier wall nearly head on and then barrel rolled at least eight times. As the car rested right-side up, McDowell walked away from the wreckage, climbed into the back of the ambulance and was transported to the infield care center for observations.

"I'm not sure what happened because it got away from me so fast that it felt like I got into some oil, oil dry or either something broke," McDowell said. "I came off of Turn 4 and something didn't feel right. I told the guys it felt tight and that I was going to run another lap. Then I got down in there and it just started to pull right on me. I tried to gather it up, but I hit the wall and started rolling down from there. I didn't lose consciousness. I felt every roll down the hill. I had my eyes open the entire time."

"That's one of the worst wrecks I've seen, ... and I'm not excited I had to participate in it." -Michael McDowell Listen to Michael's Infield Care Center Interview

Michael Waltrip echoed his sentiments.

"You appreciate the effort, not only by the team, but by NASCAR," Waltrip said. "Tony George was instrumental in the creation of the SAFER barrier. I just have to tell you that millions of dollars were spent to try to make a car -- through the passion of Brett Bodine and Robin Pemberton and the passion that NASCAR has in that car -- to make the track safer was costly. But, when you see a wreck like that, it sure does make you feel good about what we've accomplished."

PRACTICE UPDATE
McD 29th OF 46 ENTRIES IN FIRST PRACTICE

MWR teammate Reutimann tops leaderboard in both NSCS & NNS at Texas

"We were first in practice, but we need to do it when it counts because we are outside the top 35 right now," Reutimann said. "Ryan (Pemberton) did a phenomenal job. We unloaded good and we ended up good in the end."

Michael Waltrip was 38th (29.317 sec.) in his No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SAMSUNG 500 PREVIEW
McD TAKES ON TX

McDowell's Comfortable Entering Texas with Aaron's Dream Machine Team for Second Career Cup Start

"I have probably done four or five days at Kentucky Speedway in the off season," McDowell said. "Kentucky is only the real 1.5-mile track that you can go to and is convenient. We have been trying to get there the last couple of weeks to test more, but weather has killed our plans."

Even though McDowell wasn't able to test again, he feels good about his chances this weekend.

"All in all, our cars seem pretty racy," McDowell said. "I feel good about the 1.5-mile tracks and our cars are definitely getting better. David (Reutimann) showed a lot of speed at Fontana (California Speedway) and Vegas (Las Vegas Motor Speedway), but had some mishaps at Vegas. For sure we are going to have good cars, but we've got to get through practice and I've got to give my guys good information that they need to move forward and attain our goals."

Live coverage of the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 6th begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on FOX and 2 p.m. Eastern on PRN Radio.