In motor racing, it's very important to get a good time during
qualifying. For this reason, racing teams often put super-
sticky tires on their vehicles, to shave a second or two off their racers' lap times.
These tires adhere to the track surface better than regular racing slicks, but don't last nearly long enough for a full race. Qualifying on these tires is an art in and of itself.
In the mid-90's, the factory Ducati world superbike team were rumored to have a "qualifying engine" that they built, which was significantly more powerful than their standard race engine (already pushing the reliability limits of the 916 motor) but would only last a few laps before suffering catastrophic engine failure. One of those motors probably cost at least $20,000 US to build. . .