Jeff Gordon was just 11 years old when Cale Yarborough won a record-setting fifth Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

It was a mark that many thought may never be broken, given Darlington's reputation as perhaps the toughest race track to conquer in stock car racing.

Yet, 20 years later, Gordon is poised to overtake Yarborough's seemingly unbreakable mark at the "the track too tough to tame" at this weekend's Mountain Dew Southern 500 -- the last to be held on its traditional Labor Day weekend date (the race shifts to November next year).

Not only is that a lofty accomplishment in itself, what makes it even more impressive is that it took Gordon, 32, just seven years to tie Yarborough's mark of five wins, with his first Southern 500 win in 1995, followed by triumphs the following three years plus winning last year's annual holiday weekend classic.

By comparison, it took Yarborough 15 years to achieve the same thing.

"When you are doing things that Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt did throughout their careers, it obviously means a lot to you," Gordon said. "To be able to do something that they never accomplished is even more incredible.

"What impresses me so much about what we've been able to accomplish at Darlington is, when you look at the names of the drivers who were so good there, they were all such big names in the sport. A lot of them were Winston Cup champions. Certain teams and certain drivers have always been able to run well there."

Yarborough isn't fond of seeing his hard-earned record fall by the wayside. He recently said that Gordon should have to win six races just to "tie" his record because the old configuration at Darlington Raceway during Yarborough's racing years was more difficult than the layout we see today.

	Gordon comes to the Southern 500 as the defending race winner.

"I say give me a shot this weekend," Gordon said. "I've seen a lot of great video of the older track and those guys were pretty amazing -- throwing the car sideways with smoke rolling off the right rear tire. It certainly wasn't an easy place to pass. It was even narrower then than it is now. Of course the cars are a lot different too, today. I look back at what Cale has done and no matter how many Southern 500s I win, I don't think I could ever compare myself to him. He's pretty awesome.

"What is amazing about Darlington is how little it's changed and how well it has held on to its history and its roots so much. It's also done that within the sport as well. The fans love it. They flock to it. There are many drivers out there that will tell you they love it and hate it at the same time because it's a great race track. But at the same time, it reaches out and bites you when you least expect it."

But instead of being bitten, the driver of the multicolored No. 24 Chevrolet has obviously developed quite a love affair with the track they call the "Lady in Black," and vice-versa. He's become her favorite son, without question, winning a total of six times at Darlington -- five summer races and one spring event (1996) -- the most of any active driver, and third in overall wins behind David Pearson (10) and Dale Earnhardt (nine).

In addition to his six wins and three poles in 16 total starts at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval, Gordon has 11 top-fives and 14 top-10s, and has also led more laps than any other active driver (1,378).

"It's a place (that) when we seem to do everything right we do well, but to do everything right all day long is extremely tough," Gordon said. "Obviously, I love Darlington."

And a lot of love is what Gordon could use in return this Sunday. He's struggled miserably in five of the last six weeks, recording finishes of 24th (New Hampshire), 36th (Pocono), 33rd (Watkins Glen), 30th (Michigan) and 28th (last week at Bristol). He also watched a pair of poles -- Watkins Glen and Bristol -- go to waste.

The only saving grace in that streak was a fourth-place showing at Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400.

"We're definitely looking forward to going back (to Darlington), especially because of the way things have been going for us the last three or four weeks," Gordon said. "It's been frustrating on one side where the finishes haven't come the way we'd like them to. But at the same time, the performance of the cars and of the team have been going good. We've just really got to get some things going our way. A win here would mean a lot to this team right now."

Last Saturday's race at Bristol was particularly devastating to Gordon's floundering championship hopes. Where he had a slim chance of eventually overtaking points leader Matt Kenseth heading into Bristol, Gordon left the eastern Tennessee bullring with a double-whammy, falling from third to fifth in the standings and 532 points behind Kenseth, a seemingly insurmountable margin to overcome in the season's final 12 races.

	"	When you are doing things that Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt did throughout their careers, it obviously means a lot to you. To be able to do something that they never accomplished is even more incredible. "
		— Jeff Gordon

As good as he is, with four Winston Cup championships and a reputation of being a miracle man at times, even Gordon begrudgingly admits it'll be next to impossible to catch Kenseth, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

"I believe, and I think our team believes, that running fast and having good race cars and qualifying up front are much harder to fix than trying to get things go your way," Gordon said. "A lot of things are out of our control and we just try to control the things that are in our hands. And that's just putting the best race cars we can out there.

"Even though we haven't had results over the past four weeks -- other than the Brickyard -- the performance has been awesome as far as I'm concerned. We've had two poles and have led a bunch of laps. We've just got to go to the next one and hope it goes our way."

Crew chief Robbie Loomis hopes Gordon can get his season back on track starting this Sunday, particularly with his driver's success there. While it may be too late to challenge Kenseth, Gordon can still put a lot of pressure on him until the championship is finally wrapped up.

"We're going to have our share of victories before the year is out and hopefully it will start at Darlington," Loomis said. "It would be a good spark to get us electrified for the rest of the year."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@MSN.com