Was out of the race, power being needed (5)
I believe the answer is:
watts
'power being needed' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'was out of the race' is the wordplay.
'out of' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters on the outside of others).
'the race' becomes 'tt'.
'was' going around 'tt' is 'WATTS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for watts that I've seen before include "Rolling Stones drummer?" , "Sculptor" , "Power units (lighting)" , "G. F. -, Eng. artist; power units" , "rates of working" .)