Scott Fowler: Is risk of racing again worth it for Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 42 years old, newly married and wealthy enough to buy a Caribbean island.

So why the heck is Dale Jr. climbing back into a race car?

Earnhardt wants to start a family soon. He missed the second half of the 2016 NASCAR season with a concussion so serious that it knocked him out for 18 races. For a while, he could not walk a straight line. Eyes open, eyes closed – didn’t matter. A sober Earnhardt still staggered around like a drunk.

So why the heck is Dale Jr. climbing back into a race car?

He could retire from racing this minute and never worry about money again. The Earnhardt name is etched in gold. The endorsements and broadcasting opportunities would roll in like the tide.

So why the heck is Dale Jr. climbing back into a race car?

Because he loves it. And his doctors have cleared him. And Earnhardt Jr. is probably not sure what he would do without his sport.

When he was out of his No. 88 Chevrolet last year and got a glimpse at his eventual nondriving future, he realized he was in no hurry for that future to get here. As he concentrated on getting better, he also felt a little guilty. And a little bored. So when doctors declared that he was symptom-free and cleared him in December to go back to racing in 2017 – if he wanted to – the decision wasn’t difficult.

He’s not retiring. He’s racing.

Earnhardt’s first big race will be the Daytona 500 – which he has won twice – on Feb. 26. That will also be his first big race as a married man – he and Amy Reimann wed on New Year’s Eve. Earnhardt said his only regret is that he didn’t do it sooner.

“Getting married has been incredible,” Earnhardt said. “I wish I had figured all this out sooner. I’m frustrated with myself that I took so long to grow up.”

Wait until he has a kid – and we probably won’t have to wait long for that. Earnhardt told me in May about the prospect of he and Amy having children someday: “It’s frightening to imagine. But having a child and raising a child would probably the coolest accomplishment and proudest thing you could do.”

Should we tell him what to do?

Earnhardt Jr. is only 7 years younger than his father was when Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a last-lap crash at Daytona in 2001.

I got a heartfelt call from a reader on Wednesday. She left two long messages on my voicemail, pleading: “Dale Jr. should never race again! I can’t stand the idea of losing another Earnhardt!”

I understand the sentiment. Dale Jr. is so likable and so open that we all want to tell him what to do.

He wants to join the traveling circus again because he missed the show and he missed his friends. We understand that. Even the circus has to end, though, as we all found out recently. Right?

But in this rare case, I am going to refrain from dispensing advice.

It is Earnhardt’s brain.

He gets to decide what to do with it.