This year marks the 88th running of the "Race to the Clouds" on Pike's Peak in Colorado. The magnum hill climb is one of the oldest automotive competitions in the country and one of the most diverse. Where else besides a local drag strip can you see cars, trucks, motorcycles and even semis race on the same course, back-to-back-to-back?

One of the groups we're most interested in watching is the electric vehicle class and one car in particular that we'll be rooting for is an electric buggy piloted by Japanese driver Ikuo Hanawa. Hanawa's Yokohama Electric EV Sports Concept HER-02 is powered with Sanyo batteries and sports Yokohama ENV-R2 tires made from natural rubber infused with orange oil. Hanawa raced the same vehicle last year when it wore off-road Geolandar tires and placed second in its class, just missing the world record by 13 seconds. The ENV-R2 tires cut petroleum use in the manufacturing process by 20 percent and are part of Yokohama's larger eco-friendly race tire line.

Mark Chung, Yokohama director, corporate strategy and planning, says Yokohama is on the cutting edge of green race tires:

Yokohama is the only tire company to have perfected this science. The ENV-R2, the world's only environmentally-friendly race tire, is campaigned on Porsche 911 GT3 cars in two sports cars series, including an endurance race. The Pikes Peak race is a different beast, but we feel the ENV-R2 will handle the hill quite well. And the fact that the orange oil tires are on an electric race vehicle is perfect for Yokohama. It certainly fits our longstanding commitment to innovation, technology and the environment.

Yokohama has coined a name for the proprietary orange oil/natural rubber compound that sounds like something from Speed Racer or perhaps the name of an experimental sushi roll: "Super Nano-Power Rubber." The compound made its way into street tires in July of 2009 in the form of Yokohama's dB Super E-specTM, but we would've recommended taking the name "Super Nano-Power Rubber" to a few focus groups before releasing it to the public.

If you want to see the EV Sports Concept and its eco-friendly tires go for the world record, and if you'll be in or around Colorado on June 27th, tickets for the Pike's Peak event are still available. Need another reason to go? It's the only time out of the entire year you're allowed to camp on Pike's Peak.