WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- Leonardo Kanaan is like any other 5-year-old. He sees what his dad does and wants to do the same. That’s where the go-kart enters the story. That’s also where his father’s trepidation enters the story.

Soon after Leo was born, Tony Kanaan received a children’s go-kart as a gift from then-teammate Danica Patrick. The kart still fits Leo, whose interest in his dad’s profession is piqued. So, father and son are off on a journey in which son tries to emulate father. That’s where it gets tricky for almost every father who happens to be a famous race car driver.

Do racing dads want their children to be racers? How far do they take their support? How much do they help and how far do they step back? As much fun as it is to watch a youngster’s enthusiasm for racing, it can be a lot for an Indianapolis 500 winner to digest.

“I’m a big believer that you can’t decide what your kids are going to become,” Kanaan says. “You can’t tell them what they need to be. My biggest fear was to add to the pressure and tell him to do what his dad does. But by default kids look up to their dads and want to do what their dads do. Right now, he just thinks it’s cool. It hasn’t gotten serious, but I’ll support my son no matter what he does.”

The stories of fathers and sons run deep in racing. The Borg-Warner Trophy features nine faces of Unsers, including four-time winner Al Unser and two-time winner Al Unser Jr.

Three generations of the Andretti family – Mario, Michael and Marco – and two generations of Rahals -- Bobby and Graham -- are part of the past and present of the IZOD IndyCar Series.

With Father’s Day following the June 15 Milwaukee Indy Fest, the stories of fathers and their children is poignant and powerful.

Often, it's confusing.

“I just want to give him the opportunity, but at the same time I need to try to stay out of it,” Kanaan says. “I think race car parents are like top-model moms. They always think their kids are the cutest or the fastest. Do I worry? Yes, because I know how dangerous it is. But life is dangerous, too. If I can help him, I will, but if he’s not talented enough to continue to pursue it as a profession, I will tell him.”

The question of whether children follow the racing path of their fathers isn’t just limited to boys. Scott Dixon jokes that he’ll probably steer daughters Poppy and Tilly away from racing and toward something more sensible.

“I would probably point them toward tennis or golf, something with a smaller investment for a larger return,” Dixon says. “But I think whatever they’re interested in, it’s the parents’ responsibility to help. If it’s racing, then sure, I will help them as much as I can.”

Dixon knows the tribulations of young racers and their parents better than most. A child prodigy in New Zealand and Australia, he signed his first professional racing contract at age 13. At the same time, he saw the effort of his parents, Ron and Glenys, and their struggles to help him. He also knows that modern times are even more difficult for young racers.

“My years were different than what it is now,” he says. “It’s more money now, and not all of the talent makes it through. It’s definitely quite tough now if you’re trying to come through on the bones of your butt and make it. There were a lot of people back when I started that were doing well in business and would help us out by chucking in 20 grand here or 30 grand there. It’s pretty hard to come by that now. Everybody is quite tight. It’s much more difficult now to go down the path I did.”

The few who make it to the IZOD IndyCar Series or Formula One are a fortunate minority. Most racing careers are losing propositions. For every one driver who makes it big, hundreds -- if not thousands -- eventually give up, usually with wallet full of maxed-out credit cards.

“I’m trying to not encourage racing for our kids,” IZOD IndyCar Series team owner/driver Ed Carpenter says of his children, Makenna, Ryder and Cruz. “As a dad, part of you would be proud if your kids did follow in your footsteps, but at the same time it’s a hard career. I’ve been very fortunate to have the career I’ve had, but the majority of us have had more bad days than good days. It’s a lot of hard work to get to this point.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to help him out, but he’s going to have to earn it the way I did,” Kanaan says. “I can pay for his go-karts in the early stages, but if and when it gets serious, I’m not going to be able to do that. He’s going to have to work for it. I’ll help him out, but I’m not going to do what my dad or Helio (Castroneves’) dad did. They went broke to make us who we are.

“One thing I don’t want to do to Leo is force him to do it. I’ve never taken him to a go-kart track without him asking me. It’s never been, ‘Today you have to go to the track.’ The first time we went to the track, he said, ‘I want a go-kart.’ I took him and taught him and still go with him. I’ll do whatever I can, but when he does 10 laps and says, ‘Let’s go home,’ we’ll go home. The next day if he says, ‘I don’t want to go,’ we won’t go."

That sensibility was echoed by other drivers with children. They’re open to their interests in racing, but they’re also open to other interests. Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato and Justin Wilson all are dads who also are competing in the Milwaukee IndyFest.

“Heather and I are trying to introduce them to as many things as we can and let them decide what they like,” Carpenter says. “I never want to be the dad who presses too hard. We’ve all seen them growing up: Once their good at racing or playing football, it gets blown out of proportion. Whatever they do, I want them to enjoy it.”