TECH TALK: IDeas, OPINIONS, AND OBSERVATIONS FROM BLACK FLAG RACING
Welcome to the technical side of Black Flag Racing, where bad decisions get tested, good ideas get stolen, and every broken part eventually becomes a lesson with torque specs. This is where we explain what worked, what failed, what tried to kill the car, the pit crew, or the drivers and what we are doing about it before the next green flag drops.
We will be posting new technical articles every week—or more often whenever the car, the data, or mechanical violence gives us something important to say.
If you like endurance racing, clever fabrication, and the kind of engineering that gets discussed while holding a flashlight in your teeth, you are in the right place.
FUEL STRATEGY: WINNING ENDURANCE RACING A GALLON AT A TIME
Fuel strategy isn’t about going slower, it’s about going farther, longer, and smarter than everyone else on track. In endurance racing, every throttle input, braking zone, and corner exit has a cost measured in fuel, heat, and wear. The teams that understand how to manage those costs don’t just survive the race—they control it, one disciplined lap at a time.
REFLECTION BEFORE COMPETITION: What Failure Taught Us Before CMP
Upon reflection, New Orleans did not just give Black Flag Racing a blown engine. It gave us clarity. As the #86 car prepares to compete again, this Tech Talk reflects on the hard lessons from failure, the limits of partial solutions, and why better oil control, smarter systems thinking, and painful experience matter more than simply dropping in another engin
Cooling Is a Team Sport: Why one solution Can’t Do All the Heavy Lifting
Coolant temp can look perfect while the rest of the car is quietly plotting your financial ruin. In this Tech Talk, Black Flag Racing breaks down why endurance cooling is bigger than the radiator alone, and why oil control, transmission temps, brake heat, and airflow all have to work together if the Accord is going to survive race day.
RUNNING COOL, BLOWING RODS: Why COOLING STRATEGIES ARE MORE THAN WATER TEMP
Black Flag Racing proved that keeping coolant under 220 degrees is great for morale, but it does not stop the bottom end from making terrible life choices. After 65 laps at the 24 Hours of Lemons in New Orleans, our K24 demonstrated that oil starvation and aeration can turn a healthy-running endurance car into an impromptu engine-disassembly exhibit. The heater-core cooling setup did its job beautifully. The oiling system, on the other hand, appears to have briefly lost interest in long-term commitment. The result was a thrown rod, a ventilated block, and one very educational reminder that cool water does not guarantee calm internals.
HOT UNDER THE HOOD: SOLVING A HEAT PROBLEM
Black Flag Racing transformed a stock 2007 Honda Accord heater core into a hood-mounted auxiliary radiator under an L88 scoop, turning clever fabrication into real endurance-racing advantage. The result was equal parts bold and effective: a cooler-running car that stayed under 220 degrees through the heat, humidity, and chaos of a New Orleans Lemons weekend.