Jimmie Johnson crosses off a bucket-list item born on Mission Bay in 1979

It’s not unusual for people to draw up bucket lists of things they’d like to experience during their lives.

Jimmie Johnson began compiling his list soon after he started driving competitively.

“I’ve always been excited about trying something new,” the El Cajon native and seven-time NASCAR champion said recently. “It’s been that way all my life. I see something, it sparks my interest and I want in.”

Johnson’s list:

• Race in the Indianapolis 500. Check.

• Run in the Boston Marathon. Check.

• Race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Check and check.

• Race a mountain bike in the Rocky Mountains. Check.

• Drive in the Baja 1000 off-road race. A very early check.

On Friday, Johnson will cross a truly big item off his list. He will climb into the cockpit of the late Bill Muncey’s famed Blue Blaster Unlimited Hydroplane and take it for an exhibition spin on Lake Washington during the first day of the annual Seafair races.

Johnson said he’s been dreaming about it “since I was about 4.”

“This will be one of the rarest moments of my life,” he added. “This ties so many things together.”

It’s no hyperbole. In 1979, Johnson celebrated his fourth birthday by attending San Diego Unlimited Hydroplane races on Mission Bay. “My birthday (Sept. 17) always fell on the race weekend,” Johnson recalls. “That’s where I wanted to be and that’s where my parents took me.”

Johnson’s favorite driver was La Mesa’s Muncey. His favorite boat was the blue-and-white Atlas Van Lines Blue Blaster that Muncey made a favorite.

The year Johnson turned 4, Muncey was at the height of his game. The Blue Blaster, powered by the turbocharged, 12-cylinder, 1,650-horsepower Rolls-Royce Merlin engine used by World War II fighters, was the grandest Unlimited Hydroplane of the era. Muncey reached speeds over 180 mph on the water and won 24 races and three national championships over a 4 1/2-year span.

But San Diego in 1979 was not a great weekend for Muncey. During Sunday’s championship heat, the boat broke down and drifted toward the shoreline of Fiesta Island. Fans rushed toward it — one of them, El Cajon’s Gary Johnson, held 4-year-old Jimmie. With a nod of approval from Muncey, Johnson placed his son on a sponson of the 26-foot hull.

The Johnsons did not know Muncey. Two years later, Muncey died when the Blue Blaster — going 175 mph — flipped during a race in Acapulco, Mexico. Years later, Jimmie Johnson became friends with Muncey’s widow, Fran.

The Blue Blaster hull was retired and went on display at the Smithsonian. Years later, the Hydroplane & Race Boat Museum in Seattle acquired and renovated the boat and engine to running condition.

And, amazingly, the picture of the young Johnson standing on the boat in 1979 materialized.

All of which resulted in Johnson being invited to drive the famed Blue Blaster on Friday.

Why Seattle and not San Diego? The boat is permanently housed at the museum in Seattle.