Associated Press

A crew member checks the damage to Denny Hamlin's car after Hamlin was involved in a crash during practice Tuesday.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's opening night was not fun for one quarter of the starting lineup for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout.

Six teams had to go to backup cars after crashes in Thursday's two practice sessions at Daytona International Speedway.

Those going to backup cars will be Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch and the car of Kevin Harvick, which Clint Bowyer drove on Thursday as Harvick spent most of the day ill back in North Carolina.

Hamlin and Martin triggered the first incident when they made contact in the pack. That collected Biffle, McMurray and Bowyer. Joey Logano's car suffered minor damage that could be repaired.

Hamlin said he was moving to pass Martin on the outside when Martin came up into Hamlin's lane.

"He was coming up to get in front of me ... but then at the last minute he said he thought better of it and slowed down to give me the high line," Hamlin said. "Everyone is out there jockeying for position to try to find out what their car is going to do. It's hairy out there. Whenever you run that close, you have guys with miscommunication then you're going to have guys running into each other."

Said Martin: "I saw him look for the outside and, you know, it was practice, no reason to put the squeeze on him. I made an effort to give him a lane. I think at that same time, he decided it wasn't worth pushing it, so he decided to get in behind me so that caused us to come together."

Another baby

Jeff Gordon announced that his wife, Ingrid, is pregnant with the couple's second child. Gordon said the baby is due in August.

Gordon and Ingrid have a daughter, Ella, who was born in June 2007.

"We're really excited," Gordon said. "We were hoping to be able to add a second to our family. Ella is excited about being a big sister. She can't stop talking about it."

Gordon's wife is the fifth Cup driver's wife expecting a child this year. Others with pregnant wives are Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Elliott Sadler and Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I don't know what's going on in our sport right now," Gordon joked.

Petty's wife ill

Richard Petty said in a statement Thursday that his wife Lynda has been diagnosed with CNS (Central Nervous System) Lymphoma.

She will be treated at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical Center.

"We are thankful for the medical team at Duke," Richard Petty said in the statement. "My wife Lynda is in good hands. The doctors and our family are very optimistic that the treatment for this cancer will be successful."

Steady day

Danica Patrick made her ARCA debut Thursday with practice. Qualifying is today for Saturday's race, which will be Patrick's first stock car race.

Patrick was 14th fastest in the second of two practice sessions with a lap of 180.484 mph. Mikey Kile was the fastest in that second practice session with a lap of 182.264 mph.

Knee injury

Denny Hamlin said he hasn't begun rehabilitation for the torn ACL in his left knee because he doesn't yet have the mobility in his knee to begin it. When he does, he's been told that swimming and biking are best for him. He will delay surgery on the knee until after the season.

Pit stops

NASCAR President Mike Helton said he expects about 55 Cup cars to attempt to qualify for the 43 starting spots for next week's Daytona 500. ... Kasey Kahne was the fastest in Thursday's final practice session with a lap of 191.673 mph. He was followed by Ken Schrader (191.371 mph), Matt Kenseth (191.367), Jimmie Johnson (191.294) and Tony Stewart (191.270).