After a successful run here in September, the Sports Car Club of America has decided to bring its national championships back to Lincoln for at least the next three years.

The Lincoln Airport Authority on Monday approved a contract with the SCCA to hold its Tire Rack Solo National Championships at the airport through 2012.

Airport Executive Director John Wood said the SCCA had been looking for a new permanent home for the championships after holding them for 14 years in Topeka, Kan., where the group is based.

"The whole idea was, ‘let's see how this works,'" Wood said. "The bottom line is it worked out great. They couldn't have been happier."

In a press release posted to the SCCA's Web site after this year's event concluded Sept. 11, President and CEO Jeff Dahnert called the event a "tremendous success."

"With 1,149 competitors, we missed the overall record by just eight, and I heard nothing but positive feedback about the site, the organizers and the city of Lincoln," Dahnert said in the release.

According to the SCCA's Web site, next year's Tire Rack Solo Nationals will be Sept 7-10. But Wood said the group rents the airport's west ramp area for 10 to 11 days for practices and other events before the official races.

"It's a good use of the facilities we've got," he said.

While the event is not a big spectator sport, most of its approximately 1,200 competitors will come from outside of Lincoln, bring their families and stay several days, giving the local economy a $3 million boost, said Lincoln Chamber of Commerce President Wendy Birdsall.

"That's economic development in its purest form," she said.

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.