Sorry, but wheels and tires are a mind blower when you consider what's really going on. To start with, remember the air is stationary......it is the car that is moving. On the bottom of the tire, where it is touching the pavement there is no air flow, it is stationary. At the top of the tire, it is moving in the direction of the car at twice the speed the car is going. At no time is it traveling backwards, only arching up and down.
I have no deep insight other than Dang, can't even begin to comprehend what's going on here. If you're trying to think of the airflow in simple terms around wheels and tires, you really have no understanding of it, cause it is far from simple. Remember, the tire is rolling inside a wheel well that is moving through air that isn't.