Think of the high-gas mileage Toyota Prius, and you’re unlikely to make the jump to the high-octane, big-buck world of NASCAR racing. 

But thanks to the $50,000 charity Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge event being sponsored by Toyota ahead of the 2012 SEMA show, the two worlds will collide. 

Four racing stars, NASCAR’s Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer, and NHRA’s Antron Brown and Alexis DeJoria, will compete to turn a stock Toyota vehicle into a dream custom car.

Busch, Brown, and DeJoria will customize a Camry sedan, Sequoia SUV and Tundra pickup respectively, but Bowyer, with the help of RKM Performance Center in North Carolina, will focus his attention on a 2012 Prius.

The whole process will be documented online through a series of short videos available through its dedicated Facebook page, where fans will cast votes for the winning car. 

Clint Bowyer Builds Custom Prius

Clint Bowyer Builds Custom Prius

The winner, due to be unveiled on October 30 in Las Vegas at the 2012 SEMA show, will be awarded $50,000 to give to the charity of their choice. 

“It’s definitely a different project,” said Bowyer, who is normally found behind the wheel of his Number 15 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry. “To have something like this, it’s completely different. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“This is a bad Prius, a very bad, very bad Prius,” he added.

For now, Toyota has only released a trailer for the series, but over the next few weeks, expect to find out more about the race-bred Prius as it gets transformed from a high-gas mileage car into a pimped ride. 

Let’s just hope Bowyer doesn’t make any of these tragic Prius customization errors along the way.

++++++++++

Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter.