This year is the 53rd running of the Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships, and the 17th time in a row this marquee event has been held in Lincoln. With upwards of 8,400 runs being made across two courses in four days, it’s an understatement to say Solo Nats couldn’t happen without help from friends.
Behind the scenes, a great deal of aid has come from individuals who aren’t members of the Club. One such example is Dave Stremming, now a member of SCCA’s Hall of Fame who was key in obtaining Forbes Field as home for the Solo Nationals in the 1990s and early 2000s. Another example is the late Derek Feyerherm, who worked tirelessly to give the Solo Nationals a home at Lincoln Airpark.
Similar to how Forbes Field airport president Stremming helped turn a dream into reality with a move from Salina, KS, to Topeka, KS, giving the event plenty of room to grow, Feyerherm did the same for the Solo Nationals at its current home in Nebraska.
Feyerherm joined the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau in September 2005, and over the next two decades became the indispensable man of that organization. As Vice President of Operations and Development at the Chamber of Commerce and Visit Lincoln, Feyerherm worked extensively with the Sports Car Club of America™ to not only bring Solo Nats to Lincoln, but to make that relationship flourish.
Howard Duncan, another member of the Club’s Hall of Fame and the former Director of SCCA’s Rally/Solo Department, said it was 2008 when he was first made aware of the potential viability of Lincoln as a possible Solo Nats site. So Duncan reached out to the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau to perhaps facilitate a conversation.
“This is when I first met Derek,” Duncan said. “He, along with his boss at the time, arranged the initial meeting with the airport authority president. At that meeting they put their full support behind SCCA coming to Lincoln and convinced the airport president that it would be of great benefit to the community. The president had every reason to say no, but the persistence of Derek and his team got us our first contract with the airport for a three-year trial.
“Derek continued to provide assistance to us in those early years, both with promoting us to local businesses and a grant from the Chamber,” Duncan continued. “He was instrumental in maintaining our relationship with the airport and attended most of our planning meetings with them, always re-emphasizing the value of SCCA to the community. This was not only for Solo Nationals, but also for Spring Nationals and the FSAE competition held at Lincoln.
“Derek never wanted acknowledgement of these efforts either personally or for the Chamber, such as listing them as a ‘sponsor’ of SCCA events,” Duncan added. “In fact, the appreciation award we presented each year to the Chamber and the airport, he downplayed that and I’m not even sure he ever came on stage to accept the award.”
Feyerherm, 44, passed away on the morning of July 17, 2026, surrounded by his family after a nearly two-year fight against cancer. Jason Ball, current President and CEO of Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, said, “With his passing, Lincoln has lost a fierce advocate. What’s more, Lincoln’s tourism industry has lost a true innovator, and our team lost a cherished friend.”
The takeaway from this story is: More than 1,300 members of SCCA will be in Lincoln this week. However, there are way more people involved in making annual visits to Nebraska the perfect opportunity to have #funwithcars. No matter how your competition experience is going, please take a moment to say “thanks” to those outside the Club who make the adventure possible.
Photo: Aerial view of Solo Nats in all its massive glory.
Photo by Doug Prange
