Tim Gibbons has always wanted to drive a nitro Funny Car at an NHRA national event.

That dream will become a reality when Gibbons gets behind the wheel of Steve Plueger’s Chevy Impala at the Toyota Nationals Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas Speedway and at season finale at the Auto Club Finals Nov. 12-15 in Pomona, Calif.

Plueger has run a limited NHRA schedule for the last several seasons with a handful of drivers.

“I actually used to work (on cylinder heads) for Cruz (Pedregon) back in the day, and I actually licensed in Cruz’s car in 1999 that was purchased by our clutch guy at the time Bob Hallock, but nothing came about with that,” Gibbons said. “We all kind of parted ways and I went to work for another Funny Car team, and my business was not allowing me to be out there on the tour like I wanted to be, so I kind of took a hiatus in 2001 (from drag racing) and went Sprint Car Racing.”

Gibbons owns Castle Rock Trucks, which customizes trucks – in Redding, Calif. He raced Sprint Cars from 2003-2005.

“I was brought up with Funny Cars and as a kid I was in Jim Dunn’s “Funny Car Summer” movie (released in 1974),” Gibbons said. “My true passion was actually Funny Cars. I grew up at Lions (Drag Strip), Orange County, and Irwindale. I grew up in drag racing. Steve Plueger has been offering this seat for quite a few years and I couldn’t turn him down anymore. Here we are today and we’re excited about what we are doing.”

When Gibbons arrives in Vegas, he should benefit from the testing he’s done in Plueger’s Funny Car.

“I’ve been behind the wheel all summer,” Gibbons said. “We have been testing all summer. It has been going really good. Del Worsham has been a great help and Jeff Arend has been a tremendous help and Gary Densham helped me. It has just been going really, really well and we tested three weeks ago in Vegas and we just went fast and straight and now we are ready to debut at our first national event.”

Back in 1999, Gibbons did make some laps in a nitro Funny Car, but never in competition.

“We would love obviously to go rounds and we would like to be a spoiler, and mix up the points, and just go out and have fun and see what we can do,” said Gibbons about his expectations for Vegas and Pomona.

Gibbons is optimistic these will not be the only two races he runs for Plueger.

“This is a stepping stone and we are in sponsor talks right now (for the 2016 season),” Gibbons said.