When Jimmie Johnson first joined the Hendrick Motorsports Winston Cup operation, he was eager to meet veteran racer Terry Labonte.

Sure, the co-owner of his team happens to be four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon, but Johnson wanted to get the scoop on something only Labonte could have provided him.

"My first reaction when I first came in was, 'Here's a champion who has seen the sport and knows what's going on and can really give me an overview of what's going on in Winston Cup,'" Johnson said. "He has a little different look at it than Jeff Gordon does, so it's good to help paint that overall picture for a young guy coming in to understand how things used to be and how to apply it today."

Well, the way things used to be was Texas Terry would run out to a lead the size of the Lone Star State and take checkered flags from Darlington to California (and that's Riverside, Calif., mind you). Last Sunday, in the final Labor Day Weekend running of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Labonte managed to turn back the clock.

He snapped a 156-race winless streak by winning at the very race track where he posted his first-ever career victory, 22 checkered flags ago in 1980.

For Labonte, a two-time Winston Cup champion who hasn't had a top-10 points finish since 1998, it was a surreal moment. He took the checkered flag from the flag stand and, ignoring the burnouts that have become so popular with today's young drivers, simply rode around the track saluting the fans.

But the fans weren't the only ones eating it up. Labonte's fellow racers loved it, too.

"I'll tell you what, if there's anybody that's going to win the last Southern 500 on Labor Day, it's Terry Labonte," said Kevin Harvick, who was stuck with second place for the third straight race. "He's one of the great legends of our sport. I'm proud to have him here. He's pretty awesome."

Labonte has won races at 11 different tracks in his career. The throwback goes so far back that two of those tracks aren't even on the circuit. But that's what made Sunday so special. It was a day for the old school. It was a day for tradition.

	Labonte brought his No. 5 car back to Victory Lane at Darlington.

NASCAR's search for growth is taking it away from some of its roots. The drivers have been largely on board with the decisions, saluting the tracks which will lose out or need to deal with change. One of those changes is upon Darlington, which will no longer host the Southern 500 during Labor Day weekend.

This may sound like a small deal. After all, unlike North Carolina Speedway, at least Darlington will keep two race dates.

But it takes someone who has been around a while to fully understand the magnitude of the decision. Labonte is one of those guys. He spoke last week about what made this move so surprising to the long-time fans and participants of the sport.

NASCAR is a family sport. That's always been its niche. And families travel during the Labor Day weekend. The Southern 500 has long been a chance for NASCAR fans nation wide to make the trek to South Carolina and watch the oldest race in the sport.

While Labonte understands and supports NASCAR's need for growth, he understands and empathizes with the public's sense of loss. That's what made his victory such a perfect finish to the weekend.

"I said across the radio when the race was over that if we can't win it's pretty cool that Terry Labonte did," rookie racer Jamie McMurray said. "With the tradition the race track has and him being around so long, I can't imagine anybody winning would be cooler than Terry.

	“	I'll tell you what, if there's anybody that's going to win the last Southern 500 on Labor Day, it's Terry Labonte. He's one of the great legends of our sport. I'm proud to have him here. He's pretty awesome. ”
		— Kevin Harvick

"It would have been nice to win the last Southern 500 but I can't imagine a better guy than Terry Labonte to do that. That guy has had some ups and downs and if it wasn't me I'm glad that it was him."

Johnson saw his teammate go through some of those downs last year. He's seen the ups this year. As a guy who has come into such a competitive sport and experienced, particularly in the points standings, nothing but success, Johnson said he appreciates what it means for a driver to be around so long and endure the tough times.

"I just can't say enough for Terry Labonte and the whole 5 team," he said. "Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports works so hard.

"It's very exciting to be on the same team with him and to work with such a nice, good guy. The entire team works their butt off and they've been really making big strides. I think everyone has been able to see it. The communication between (crew chief) Jim Long and Terry and the whole team, it's been neat to see their spirits come up just in the short time I've been at Hendrick Motorsports.

"Last year and this year, you can just see the competitive fire in their eyes. Today showed that. At one of the longest races we run, on the hardest track to get a hold of, Terry kicked all of us young guys' butts today and did it in good fashion."

Rupen Fofaria is a freelance writer living in Chicago and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at rfofaria@espnspecial.com.