CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Thank you, Bobby Labonte.

Thanks for stepping away from the start-and-park situation at TRG Motorsports and maintaining the integrity that one would expect to see from a past Sprint Cup champion.

Thanks for reminding us that drivers are here to compete, not to make a few laps and go to the garage so an owner can collect a paycheck just to survive to the next weekend.

Thanks for being brave enough to speak your mind and not make up some silly excuse for why you left.

We understand times are tough out there. When a past champion is forced to start-and-park, that only magnifies it.

We understand that some owners have no choice but to start-and-park to stay in the sport. But we don't have to like it.

We're glad you didn't settle for it.

"This sport is full of challenges, no matter what it is," Labonte said after announcing Wednesday that he and TRG were parting. "The challenges that I have today might feel like the worst challenges, but you don't know. You don't know what guys have gone through to get to this point or stay at this point.

"It's the passion of the sport that wants you to keep doing this. It's the passion that I have for this sport and the passion that I have for racing that keeps me wanting to do this more and more. That's just how you race. It is probably different for different people. That's just how I feel."

It's good to hear a driver speak up about this, just as it was good to hear Scott Riggs say he was leaving Tommy Baldwin Racing last season because he didn't want to start-and-park.

Many of us take start-and-parkers for granted, not realizing the agony it is for the driver who wants to compete just as badly as four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

It's also good to see Labonte get other opportunities, such as driving for Robby Gordon this weekend at New Hampshire and at least two more races for Phoenix Racing. Let's hope more chances open up so the 2000 champion under Joe Gibbs Racing can complete his career on his own terms and that he's not left wanting like Riggs has been.

"There are bumps behind us that we got through, and there are bumps ahead of us that we'll go through," said Labonte, whose best finish at TRG was 21st. "Right now we just have to concentrate what we're on and what we are doing right now.

"It would be nice to not have to wait till November to have plans, but you just don't know. This sport is not the same for me as it was five years ago or eight years ago or even 10 years ago. It is what it is. I learned how to say that better. And you just make the best of what you have in the situation that it is."

Thankfully, Labonte didn't learn to settle for making that hard turn to the garage before the first round of green-flag pit stops like about half a dozen teams are doing these days.

For that, thanks, Bobby Labonte.