Wow that's crazy! I can see why it wouldn't last....

I did one like that for a racer years ago when the rules said no lightened gear sets. I machined pockets between the screw holes that bolted on the ring gear. Took me a lot of hours on a manual mill with a rotary table. Everything was machined with a radius, no sharp corners anywhere. The guy ran it for 4 seasons, lent it to another racer for a night and it grenade. He complained about how it didn't last very long! LOL like 2 seasons is pushing it on a gear set! He said he could feel the difference though? I think it was a 6:50 gear so the crown was really thick with lots of material removed. This was before you could buy them lightened. I've done a few gear clusters for T-10 based transmissions too. Funny how circle track stuff is all hush hush...
Fun times....