10 or so years ago, that crash would have killed him. No way he'd have survived it.
Several years ago a very well known NASCAR driver crashed in a similar way, turned head on into the wall at 180+ mph. He didn't survive it but his death certainly played a major role in McDowell being able to walk away.
Now with the safer barriers, the COT and things like the HANS device and capsule-style seats, this result will be much more common than what happened on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.