Racing Notebook - Gordon: There's a clear line, and caution helps define it

In the aftermath of penalties to Kyle Busch for wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Nov. 4 Trucks race at Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon took issue with one particular piece of conventional wisdom.

"This is the thing that I disagree with — and I guess it's for debate: 'There's no clear line,'?" Gordon said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. "Yes there is — you just saw it (at Texas). You just saw, that was the clear line, and there is a clear line.

"When you know that you didn't do the right thing, then you know there are consequences. I think NASCAR — when the caution is out, that's one. The next one is when you're on a mile-and-a-half race track running 190 miles per hour."

If the line is clear, enforcement isn't always consistent, depending on the circumstances. Gordon thought Carl Edwards crossed the line in wrecking Brad Keselowski at Atlanta in 2010, but NASCAR's response wasn't as harsh then as it was for Busch.

NASCAR parked Edwards for the rest of the race. Busch was parked for the rest of the weekend, including the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races, and fined $50,000. Edwards got off with a three-race probation.

"I think that for that incident (Edwards and Keselowski) — I don't know why it was handled (the way it was), but in my opinion, that was a clear line," Gordon said. "To me that is clearly something that I know if I do that, there's going to be a penalty. There was a penalty — it's just wasn't very severe."

Del Worsham took the Top Fuel points lead Friday during qualifying for the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

Meanwhile, Antron Brown wasn't in position to qualify as the championship pressure intensifies with only two sessions remaining today before the final eliminations.

Tony Schumacher led the Top Fuel field, Robert Hight had the Funny Car lead, Mike Edwards topped the Pro Stock field and Andrew Hines led in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Lewis Hamilton edged McLaren teammate Jenson Button in the second practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday, and Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel was unhurt when he slid into a wall.

Hamilton clocked 1 minute, 39.586 seconds on the 3.5-mile Yas Marina circuit, 0.199 seconds faster than Button.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished third, despite also sliding into a wall midway through the session, and Vettel ended up sixth.

First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden , the wife of the vice president, will be the grand marshals for the Sprint Cup-season ending Ford Четыресто on Nov. 20.

They will lead the pre-race ceremony and giving the traditional instructions: "Gentlemen, start your engines."