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> but to burn out as the correct verb and to burnout as the incorrect verb mean two different things

They don't, though.

sorry i haven't seen many race cars burn out like candles or burn out like overworked employees. i have seen many though perform burnouts where they warm up the tires to increase how sticky they are.

Yes, it’s correct to say that they “perform burnouts,” because “burnout” is being used there as a noun.

> i haven't seen many race cars burn out like candles

I think you're getting confused by ommitted implied words. When a race car burns out, it is burning out its tires not itself.

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