[onewhippedpuppy]

Sounds to me like a normal day at the kart track. If you don't want to hit the wall (hard) or potentially be hit (hard) it's probably not an activity you should engage in. There is risk associated with most activities, if you are not willing to accept it then don't participate. My son (also 8) plays basketball, tackle football, and baseball, and any one of those could result in him getting hurt, and hurt much worse than whiplash. It's a calculated risk and one that my wife and I acknowledge.

As for the staff, is that a surprise to you? Did you expect SCCA trained and certified corner workers at the local kart track? While it doesn't make it right, there are very few venues in which you can expect quality service. If they hired professional corner workers the track would be so expensive that you would refuse to take your son. As with most things, you are largely on your own. I would suggest speaking with the track manager about your complaints to hopefully affect positive change, without your feedback they don't know what to fix.