Enter race and finish out of line (7)
I believe the answer is:
compete
'enter' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to competing as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for compete that I've seen before include "Strive (against others)" , "Contend (for a prize)" , "Vie, contest" , "Struggle for victory" , "Take part (in race)" .)