Team INDYCAR fell short of the checkered flag in “The Amazing Race.”
Verizon IndyCar Series drivers Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly were eliminated in fourth place in the season finale of the 30th season of CBS’ Emmy Award-winning reality adventure show that aired Wednesday night.
The four remaining teams traveled from Thailand to Hong Kong for the 11th leg of the race around the world. Rossi and Daly, by virtue of their back-to-back wins the week before, were the first team to depart Chiang Mai and quickly hopped in a cab when all the teams landed in Hong Kong.
Once there, teams had to find a photo kiosk at the top of Victoria Peak for a photo that was their next clue. Rossi and Daly led at the first detour, choosing a Hairy Crab task that had them tie 50 live crabs in a simulated rainstorm.
But the duo grew frustrated handling the crabs and gave up and switched after Daly's finger was pinched by a crab.
"I need these for my job," Daly said.
That forced them to try Grub Grab -- where Daly had to take the order of a table full of Honk Kong restaurant goers in Cantonese and relay it to Rossi in the kitchen, who then chose the from the dishes labeled in (simplified) Cantonese.
After Daly took the orders several times, he finally served the plates and, after correcting his mistakes, Team INDYCAR left behind shortly after Team Yale in second place. From there, the next task was inspired by “Rage Art.”
Daly beat up a bunch of electronics with a baseball bat until he found the two halves of a clue hidden inside. Meanwhile, Rossi had a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist that required a three-digit numeric code to open it. Once they did, teams found the clue to the Pit Stop.
To crack the code, teams wandered through designated streets of Lan Kwai Fong, the heart of Hong Kong’s nightlife. Searching for three unspecified symbols that represented different legs, the numbers of the three symbolized legs made up the three-digit briefcase code.
Though the drivers found signs and had two of the three numbers, Rossi and Daly couldn’t figure out that "Arch" represented the arch in New York's Washington Square Park where the first episode began -- even with a clue from Team Yale and as revelers tried to help them.
When host Phil Keoghan arrived at Lan Kwai Fong, the drivers knew their race was over.
“It’s difficult to take, for sure,” Daly said. “We didn't even make it to the pit stop.”
“There's a lot of things I'll look back on,” Rossi said. “It’s very special get to be in competitive environment outside of the race car.”
The three remaining teams continued to San Francisco where Team Big Brother’s Cody Nickson and Jessica Graf won the $1 million prize.