Soon, you’ll be able to add one more thing to Boris Said’s extensive racing resume: Pikes Peak Hill Climb veteran. Said will compete behind the wheel of a BMW M3 in this year’s event, but it isn’t just another race-prepped BMW that the NASCAR driver will be piloting.

The M3 that Said will drive on his race to the clouds is an electric-car conversion, built by EV West. In race trim, it’s estimated that the car will send around 700 horsepower to the rear wheels, which is approximately 300 more horsepower than seen in the video above.

It’s probably a good thing that the entire course is paved now, since 700 horsepower to two wheels on gravel sounds a bit puckering, even for a driver with as much experience as Said.

Of the opportunity, Said commented, “It’s my 25th year of racing, and I’m fortunate enough to have competed at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Sebring, Bathurst, 24 Hours of Nürburgring, the Daytona 500, Baja 1000 and Circuit de Spa, but never on Pikes Peak, which is on my bucket list.”

Boris Said in the EV West M3

Boris Said in the EV West M3

Said sees electric cars as changing the market once the infrastructure is in place, which is good news for EV West. As with internal-combustion motorsports, EV West sees racing as a way to push the boundaries of what’s possible from existing technology.

Oddly, the Electric field is getting the most attention for this year’s event. Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, the Pikes Peak legend who broke the 10:00 barrier in last year’s race, was the first to announce his switch to electric power for 2012.

Other entrants in the Electric category include defending class champion Ikuo Hanawa, Dakar Rally veteran Hiroshi Masuoka, Japanese rally star Fumio Nutahara and Beccy Gordon, sister of racer Robby Gordon and wife of IndyCar’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.

This year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb will take place on Sunday, July 8.