The problem wasn't a race condition, it was an improperly scoped variable. If a different variable name had been used, the failure would have been easy to ident

The problem wasn't a race condition, it was an improperly scoped variable. If a different variable name had been used, the failure would have been easy to identify. Testing for the result of something improper wouldn't be appropriate here, either. But, if the environment is such that it is easy to manifest this condition, I would argue that such a test setup should definitely be considered, given the potential for failure.