Thorn VanGesen insists he’s never forced anything on his son.

But on a warm Saturday afternoon, he and Jon VanGesen are at South Sound Speedway in Rochester, their fifth stop in as many weeks.

The elder VanGesen retired from the Legends Car Circuit a few years ago, but his son wasn’t quite ready to see a family tradition end.

Now the two work in tandem — Jon as the driver and Thorn as the crew chief.

“It’s neat because the way things are we wouldn’t see each other very much,” said Thorn, who lives in Port Angeles with his wife, Jai.

The couple provide a replica 1937 Chevy Coupe in which their son competes in the Northwest Legends Series Masters Division.

Jon, who lives in Port Orchard, was the 2008 Northwest Legends Semipro Rookie of the Year, and led his division in points through mid-June.

But VanGesen, 40, blew his motor during warm-ups at South Sound, a setback that will keep him off the track indefinitely.

The family has a second car that his brother Jacob, 16, drives, but they also need a motor for that car.

It’s just one of many aspects that makes the sport expensive.

Even with local races, Jai, who handles the bookkeeping, estimates it costs $500 to transport the car and pay entry fees.

Couple that with any repairs needed on the Yamaha 1,200-motor, four-cylinder engine and prize money easily can be sunk into repairs.

Replacing just one of the BF Goodrich tires is $110.

“It’s a hobby,” said VanGesen, who has several local sponsors. “We rely on the support of our business partners. Otherwise the expense of each weekend wouldn’t cover our costs.”

Regardless of how long he’s out of the racing circuit, VanGesen won’t be away from the wheel.

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputy also is a 911 Driving School instructor in Port Orchard.

“My whole goal is to keep them safe drivers and help them develop good habits,” he said. “That’s exciting to see.”

Through his law enforcement background, VanGesen and his wife April also have become active foster parents.

They had a daughter, Sheridan, 15, and son, Ian, 12, before adopting daughter Sierrah, 4.

She was just a day old when they picked up her up from the hospital as a foster child.

“We first got involved in the foster care system after seeing kids removed from bad situations,” he said. “My wife and I started looking into what happens to these kids, and we got license.”

The couple had another foster child for eight months until June. In another case, they had a boy who was just 4 pounds at three weeks old and “basically just wasted away.”

They kept him for two years.

“Just to see him grow and develop is incredible,” he said. “We try and do what we can.”

And with as much joy as VanGesen took watching his father race mini-stock cars in the mid-1970s at Monroe’s Evergreen Speedway — images that became a catalyst for his own interest in the sport — he wants to share it with his children.

Ian serves as a crew member for No. 17, and so does Jacob.

“It definitely means we do a lot of stuff together,” his brother said. “We don’t just sit at home and wait for school to start.”

When they’re away from home, VanGesen looks for activities other than racing. When a recent race at Stateline Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho, ended, the family packed up the RV and made the 10-mile drive to Silverwood Theme Park in Coeur d’Alene.

“We bring the whole family out to the races,” VanGesen said. “That’s our hunting and fishing.”

His children are interested in racing, but he said the focus now is getting Jacob back on the track.

That might even mean a break for VanGesen, who took a few years away from the sport in the 1990s, and has driven everything from Go-Karts to mini-stocks.

He was the Outlaw Compact Champion in 2007 before switching to Northwest Legends.

Even with his background, the switch to the 1,100-pound, 125-horsepower Chevy was a little different for him.

“This is the first open-wheel car I’ve raced besides Go-Karts,” VanGesen said. “There’s no rubbing fenders next to you. If we do that, we’re actually touching wheels.”

That’s just one reason why VanGesen keeps traveling to events throughout the Northwest.

“It’s exciting to be on the racetrack and go fast,” he said. “It’s fun to compete with high-quality, national-championship-winning drivers.”