Outside of the professional racing world, self-tech track events are common. One very important safety inspection that many road race and time attack enthusiasts tend to overlook is fatigue and stress cracking of their aluminum wheels.

Every wheel has a maximum load rating and depending on wheel design and materials used, this number will vary and can be found on the back side of the wheel center. Hop a few rumble strips and add enough supporting mods such as aero, coilovers, chassis bracing and a good set of r-comps to increase lateral loads and wheel fatigue or even a complete failure can and will happen to any aluminum wheel if left unnoticed, regardless of the brand or production procedure.

In the video above, an S2000 owner learned the hard way in turn 12 (Riverside) at Buttonwillow Raceway how important a proper wheel inspection is. Just before the apex of turn 12 his front left wheel fails; sending the tire and barrel rolling away in the background and the S2000 sliding off the track at 95 miles per hour with the spokes still bolted to the hub.

The driver was unharmed and admits to learning a valuable lesson. After further inspection of the failed wheel, the S2000 owner noted visible cracks on the back side of the spokes. After seeing the cracks in the failed wheel, the owner inspected the other wheels and noticed that all three wheels were showing signs of fatigue on the back of the spokes as well.

A complete failure could have been easily avoided had the driver removed his wheels to properly inspect the front and back of each wheel for signs of fatigue. The S2000 driver was very lucky the wheel failed where it did and to have walked away from the crash with no injuries and minor damage to his car.