This is why the race teams will always rev the engine hard in the garage before sending the car out, and they are not in a habbit of breaking anything.
Not sure I agree it applies here, they will only be using that engine once, so damaging it's longterm lifespan is irrelevant as long as it's at optimum temperature for the race.
It was an answer to a question in Evo Magazine. Not sure on its validity, but either way I'm sure that revving to 3500 with no load is better than driving around up to 3500rpm.