WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — It’s been nearly two decades since Jeff Gordon won his first Sprint Cup road race. He has one more chance to add to his legacy on the two twisting courses NASCAR visits each year.

A five-time winner at Sonoma and four-time winner at Watkins Glen International, Gordon is NASCAR’s leader in road course wins heading into Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at The Glen.

Another would make it a perfect 10 — it would be the first victory of his final season and, more importantly, pretty much secure a spot in the 10-race Chase for the series title.

Drivers with at least one win and in the top 30 in points are virtually assured of a spot in the field of 16. So far this season, there have been 11 winners, though one of them, Kyle Busch, remains 13 points outside the cutoff. Gordon sits 10th in points and in a comfortable position with five races to go before the Chase.

“There are no guarantees unless you get that win. That win means so much,” Gordon said Friday before going out and pacing the second Sprint Cup practice, the memory of his crash at Indianapolis two weeks ago a stark reminder of how quickly a big advantage in points can vanish. “It’s important for us, if we can’t win this race, to be really solid, get a good solid finish.”

What is most impressive about Gordon’s nine road course wins is that the first six were in succession, starting at Watkins Glen in 1997 and ending here three years later.

“That’s incredibly amazing,” said Rusty Wallace, who finished his Cup career with six road wins. “I can’t believe anybody did that, but he did. You get on a roll, man.”

“It’s pretty remarkable,” added NASCAR icon Richard Petty, also a six-time road course winner. “That was a crowning deal as far as road racing is concerned.”

The streak might have reached seven, but a hard-charging Gordon, who was inside the top five early in the 2000 race at The Glen, was involved in a wreck with Tony Stewart while speeding up through the esses and never was a factor.