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" Ron Howard&amp;#039;s Rush had its world premiere over the weekend in London. That means that James Hunt is about to become known to a group of people that extends well beyond ardent racing fans. This revisits our June story about Hunt&amp;#039;s 1977 trackside run-in with a volunteer race marshall at Mosport. The scene is Mosport. James Hunt exits his wrecked car and stumbles back toward the racetrack, wearing only one shoe. A red-capped race marshall grabs his shoulder to pull the Brit to safety and pow! Hunt socks him in the mouth. It was a typically puzzling moment from one of motor racing&amp;#039;s most quixotic personalities. While Hunt&amp;#039;s randomly thrown haymaker may have amused some TV viewers, being on the receiving end of it can&amp;#039;t have been any fun. So who was the man he punched?      His name is Ernie Strong, and all these years later, he&amp;#039;s still confused and upset about Hunt&amp;#039;s behavior. &amp;quot;How did I feel?&amp;quot; Strong says, &amp;quot;Wronged, blindsided\u2014did that really happen?&amp;quot; Hunt punched hard, too. Another corner worker noticed blood trickling out of Strong&amp;#039;s jaw afterward, so he rode to Race Med in an ambulance to get checked out. What happened to put Hunt off the track and then his fist into Strong&amp;#039;s face? Coming off a win at Watkins Glen, Hunt was closing out a disappointing follow-up his 1976 championship run. Niki Lauda had already clinched the &amp;#039;77 driver&amp;#039;s title and elected to sit out the season&amp;#039;s final two final races of the season. The Canadian GP would be a battle between the McLarens of Hunt and his teammate Jochen Mass, and the Lotus team captained by Mario Andretti.  The race boiled down to a duel of giants: Andretti and Hunt left the rest of the field in the dust, lapping everyone but Jochen Mass. Bunching up behind the slower McLaren, Hunt managed to slip past Andretti&amp;#039;s Lotus as the American put two wheels on the grass, but Mass was still in the way. A miscommunication at speed between the two teammates ensued. Hunt explained at the time: &amp;quot;I was right up his chuff\u2014I was forced to go left, then he suddenly moved across to the left, hit the brakes and waved me through on the right. But I was committed and couldn&amp;#039;t avoid him. I hit him right up the arse.&amp;quot; Mass pitted for repairs and eventually finished third, but Hunt&amp;#039;s McLaren was too badly damaged to return. A few beats after the sucker punch, you&amp;#039;ll see Hunt turn back toward the marshal in a sudden, somewhat contrite realization. Both men retreat to the safety of the barrier where Hunt removes his helmet, pushes his long blond hair back and gives the still-dazed Ernie Strong an apologetic half-hug of sorts. Ernie says, &amp;quot;If I said anything to him, I can&amp;#039;t remember. Hunt gave me a, &amp;#039;Sorry, old man,&amp;#039; and headed back to the pits...&amp;quot; The media had a field day, with headline writers working up their best/worst puns. Hunt was fined $2,000\u2014the maximum at the time\u2014and Strong later successfully sued him in a British court. Far from taking the attitude that this was the sort of thing you expected from a mercurial wildman like Hunt, the unfairness of the thing still rankles the marshal. Strong was a volunteer, and become some frustrated racer&amp;#039;s punching bag is the sort of thing that&amp;#039;s hard to forgive, particularly as Hunt never spoke to him beyond that one simple, &amp;quot;Sorry, old man.&amp;quot; After all, Strong was trying to get Hunt out of harm&amp;#039;s way.  This month, we&amp;#039;ll see Hollywood&amp;#039;s version of the famous Hunt and Lauda battle at speed, and both men will be uplifted as heroes, just as modern F1 drivers are neatly packaged for the press. The punch at Mosport is a reminder that the man who made a reputation as the life of the 1970s F1 party had his share of ugly moments, too. Just ask Ernie Strong. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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