For all intents and purposes, Jeff Gordon's season will either begin or end in Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in suburban Charlotte, N.C.

With six races remaining this season, Gordon is currently tied with Matt Kenseth for sixth in the Winston Cup standings, each driver 201 points behind current leader Tony Stewart.

	Another visit to Victory Lane is just what Jeff Gordon needs to stay in the title chase.

While such a margin is not insurmountable for Gordon and his No. 24 Chevrolet team, Charlotte could very well be where Gordon's title hopes either go up in smoke, or where he begins what could become one of the greatest championship rallies in NASCAR history.

Borrowing a phrase from Al Davis, owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders, the gameplan for Gordon is best described in three words: "Just win, baby."

And the more wins in the last six races, the better -- but it all starts with Charlotte, a place he cannot afford to falter with so much riding on the line.

Anything less, and Gordon and his stretch run will fall short.

That's why, unlike the five drivers ahead of him, Gordon cannot afford to race conservatively. He has to keep his gas pedal glued to the floor, take advantage of situations when they're presented and try to get to the front as quickly as possible and stay there.

In fact, we may very well see a very non-Gordon-like Gordon. Rather than Gentleman Jeff, he may be forced to drive like the meanest old cuss out there, banging fenders and pushing cars out of the way.

Even Gordon admits he'll have to put away his smiley face and practice his stare if he is to keep his championship hopes alive.

"We're going to have to take more risks now if we hope to win the championship this year," Gordon said. "We need wins and top-fives to put pressure on the guys ahead of us in points."

While the brunt of the pressure is definitely on him to perform, Gordon has history in his favor, at least for Sunday's race. Charlotte is where Gordon earned the first pole (1993) and victory (1994) of his career. It's also where he has earned four victories, 10 top-fives and 11 top-10s in 19 starts.

And, while he wasn't directly involved in it, Gordon has another bit of history to call upon as an example as he tries to keep his quest for a second consecutive and fifth overall championship alive. In 1992, the year Gordon competed in his first Winston Cup event (the season finale at Atlanta), he watched as Alan Kulwicki put the finishing touches on the greatest comeback in history, making up 278 points in the final six races to take the title from Bill Elliott by 10 points, the closest edge ever.

"The points race has been crazy this year with no driver showing dominance," Gordon said. "It's time for someone to step up and put a string of good finishes together over the last six races. I hope it's us."

Twice thus far this season, Gordon has stepped up and displayed signs of his old form, only to be slapped back to reality immediately afterward. After he snapped the second-longest winless streak of his career (31 races) with back-to-back wins at Bristol, Tenn., and Darlington, S.C., just over a month ago, Gordon fans and foes alike conceded that he was on the verge of going on a major tear, the kind he's been known for throughout his career.

Unfortunately, after those two wins, Gordon wound up 40th in the following race at Richmond, Va., one of his favorite tracks.

Then, just when observers believed Gordon's chances were once again fading after a 14th-place finish at Loudon, N.H., and 37th-place showing at Dover, Del., he pulled another win out of his bag at Kansas -- only to finish next-to-last this past Sunday at Talladega, Ala.

The way it would appear, Gordon enters Charlotte in mid-October facing his own version of the World Series. He has two strikes on him and the bases are loaded. One more strikeout and the season is over. Of course, a grand slam homer would go a long way toward putting him right back in the game.

You might say that Gordon is going back to the clubhouse to pull out one of his lucky bats for Charlotte, returning with the same car he drove to Victory Lane at Kansas two weeks ago, and which has also helped him to five top-fives in its seven starts.

"Our focus will be the same as it's been all year -- focus on our team and what we can accomplish," Gordon said. "We can't worry about what the other teams are doing. We just need to lead laps, run well and finish well and the points will take care of themselves. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

It's ironic how things have changed for Gordon in a year's time. With six races remaining last season, he was leading the standings by an almost insurmountable 334-point margin over his closest challenger. Today, 324 points separate the top-11 drivers, and Gordon is right in the middle of the pack.

It's almost as if Gordon had a premonition at how rough this season would be, including the tight championship battle, when he predicted prior to this year's season-opening Daytona 500 that "this year is certainly not going to be like last year."

If he only knew then what he knows now.

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.