The engines we built for 1/4 and 1/2 mile round tracks cycled from 3K to 7K+ RPM at least twice a lap, and the average engine lasted half a season, including practice, qualifying, and actual racing time. An engine with a thousand miles on it was an antique. A brand new one had more "wear" built in in the form of extra piston and bearing clearance than a 100K mile street engine, and if it used a quart of oil every race night, so what? We had nine quarts onboard.
Translate that kind of engine build to the street, and you've got a nightmare. With mufflers on it, one of those engines sounds like there's a hundred little guys with sledgehammers inside, trying to escape! Doing race stuff on street engines is an exercise in futility.
Jerry
