There’s little margin for error in NASCAR Nextel Cup racing, even for four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

“It’s a lot harder to pass these days,” he said. “I can remember when, if we did have trouble, we could always find a way to get back. That seems to be a lot tougher to do these days. Fewer mistakes can be made.

“Track position is extremely important. If you don’t have it through qualifying, you’d better get it through pit stops. Or you’d better find a way to get that track position and hold on to it.”

Fortunately for Gordon, recent history suggests he won’t have much of a problem making up ground when the circuit returns to action April 18 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Gordon will go into the Advance Auto Parts 500 as the defending champion. He had what might be considered the perfect season at the 0.526-mile track, winning both races and both poles there in 2003. He has started in the top five in each of the past seven events at the track, with four of those starts coming from the pole.

“I love Martinsville because I run well there,” Gordon said. “I grew up on short tracks. We can’t have a series that’s nothing but l.5-mile tracks. We see how many people we pack in for Bristol (Tenn.) and how exciting it is. Even though Martinsville isn’t that same type of track, it still offers that short-track excitement the fans love to see.”

Gordon has won at Martinsville five times, and has finished in the top 10 there 16 times.

He goes to the track coming off a third-place finish in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first top-five finish this year but his fifth top-10 in seven races. That moved him from 12th to ninth in the Nextel Cup points standings.

Being in the top 10 is important because of Cup’s new “Chase for the Championship” format, in which the top 10 and anyone else within 400 points of the leader after the season’s 26th points race at Richmond, Va., in September becomes eligible to battle for the 2004 title.

Last season, Jeff Gordon won both races and both poles at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Overall, he has five victories and 15 top-10 finishes at the track.

“Right now I can’t say we’re looking at it a whole lot differently because basically it’s about being consistent,” Gordon said. “Everybody is out there trying to win races and so are we, but we know that come Richmond we’ve got to be in that top 10.

“When we are, we’d better be set on kill to go out there and lead laps and win races. You’re going to have to have top fives every single weekend and have a lot of luck in order to win that championship. Two or three months from now everything is going to change for everybody.”

Gordon also is trying to extend a remarkable streak. He’s won at least three races in each of the past nine seasons. He might have gotten his first win of 2004 at Texas, but a problem with his alternator drained his Chevrolet’s battery, causing the car to sputter while he was leading late.

Despite being in the top 10 in the standings, however, the performance of Gordon’s team this year has been questioned.

“It doesn’t surprise me because we’ve set that bar,” Gordon said. “We’ve set those expectations by the number of wins and championships and seasons we’ve had. We know where our focus is, but we also know we haven’t lived up to our potential.

“We finally showed in Texas what we’re capable of and that we are going to challenge for wins. Outsiders are quick to judge. It’s a long season. We haven’t gotten off to the season we’ve wanted either, but we are happy to get some momentum from Texas and take it to a great track like Martinsville.”