Crashed early in the race (5)
I believe the answer is:
relay
'race' is the definition.
(relay race)
'crashed early' is the wordplay.
'crashed' is an anagram indicator.
'early' is an anagram of 'RELAY'.
'in the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for relay that I've seen before include "Broadcast" , "supplementary store of anything" , "Pass on - put down again" , "Receive and pass on - race" , "track event" .)