Engineer knew race could be a tie (8)
I believe the answer is:
neckwear
'could be a tie' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'engineer knew race' is the wordplay.
'engineer' indicates anagramming the letters.
'knew'+'race'='knewrace'
'knewrace' is an anagram of 'NECKWEAR'.
(Other definitions for neckwear that I've seen before include "Tie perhaps" , "sort of clothing" , "Stock" , "eg Ties, cravats" , "Collars, ties etc." .)