Hello William , from the picture its hard for me to tell if the cracks are into the rubber ? I suggest scrubbing the tire with soap, water and a brush and I hope it is just a chemical left over from manufacturing.
Replaced it with a lithium and when it arrived i thought i may have been ripped off the package didnt feel heavy enough to have anything in it much less a vmax battery. I installed it and works great Wow what a difference in weight from the old one. I thing max may be faster now !!!!!!