DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tony Stewart was thankful a crash in his return to racing didn't cause his still-healing leg any pain. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was thankful he wasn't in the doghouse after crashing into girlfriend Danica Patrick.

Those three drivers were just one-third of a massive nine-car crash during Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited, NASCAR's season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway.

During the second of three segments, Matt Kenseth came down the track across Joey Logano's nose, triggering an incident that took out half the field.

Stewart, making his return to racing after missing the last 15 races of the 2013 season after breaking his right leg in a sprint car crash in Iowa on Aug. 5, was in the middle of the crash. There were no injuries.

Stewart said he didn't feel any leg pain after the crash.

"I never felt anything when I hit," Stewart said. "Then when I stopped, you get a little better assessment ... and the good thing was there wasn't any initial pain. That wasn't the lesson I wanted to learn tonight ... but if we can make it through that, I'm confident we're not going to have any issues for the (Daytona 500) weekend.

"That's the positive out of the negative, I guess."

Near the end of the crash, Stenhouse collided with Patrick, who had spun out when she dipped two tires into the grass and lost control of her car. She was sitting on the track when Stenhouse, who couldn't see over his wrecked hood, plowed into her door.

"I couldn't see, and then all of the sudden, I drilled her," Stenhouse said. "Which sucks for her. She obviously seemed like she didn't have much damage until I tore the whole side of her car off."

Stenhouse said he had no idea who he hit until he got into the infield care center and was informed by his girlfriend.

"She was like, 'You drilled me,' " Stenhouse said. "I was like, 'Sorry, I didn't know who I hit.' It was just a product of not being able to see and having the wheels pointed in different directions."

For all Stenhouse knew, the vehicle he hit "could have been a parked jet dryer."

Patrick called it "a bummer" but seemed quick to forgive, given the circumstances.

"If his hood wouldn't have been up and had the inability to see, obviously there would have been more frustration," she said.

Kenseth, who was attempting to drop low on the track, moved into Logano's path. Kenseth later took responsibility for the wreck, saying he "cut off Joey and didn't leave enough room."

Before the start of the final segment, the Chevrolet SS pace car began smoking and driver Brett Bodine jumped out. Safety crews put out what appeared to be a fire in the trunk.

Denny Hamlin won the race, passing for the lead just before the white flag flew. He won all three segments of the 75-lap exhibition.