Classic Moments in "Amazing Race" (US) History Quiz

Answer: Joe and Bill

Joe and Bill had defeated Nancy and Emily for the Fast Forward which allowed them to skip all tasks and head directly to the pit stop. However, Joe and Bill decided to go sightseeing and explore Thailand. They had reasoned that previous Fast Forward winners had gained significant time advantages over the other teams so there was no rush in getting to the pit stop. They hoped to enjoy their surroundings and take a later train to the pit stop to save money. However, they were gravely mistaken.

The other four teams had arrived at the pit stop before Joe and Bill. Joe and Bill were only saved because of another classic moment. Nancy and Emily, believing themselves to be well into last place, quit the Detour task and incurred a 24-hour penalty eliminating them from the race. Joe and Bill moved up to fourth place but were never able to catch up. They did survive the last elimination but were too far behind to finish the race.

Answer: San Francisco

Season 2's finish line was at East Fort Baker in San Francisco. Tara and Wil were very familiar with San Francisco having lived there for a time. Wil tried to outmaneuver Chris and Alex's taxi driver by pretending a different place was actually East Fort Baker.

This gave Tara and Wil a very small head start in the footrace to the finish line. However, Chris and Alex were able to outrun Tara to the end and passed her steps before the finish to claim the win.

Answer: Vietnam

Flo and her partner Zach had initially been a strong team but as the race progressed, Flo began to become physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. She had several smaller breakdowns in the second half of the race. This all came to a head in Vietnam during Leg 12.

There were only three teams left in the race and Flo struggled at the Detour. One task required teams to transport bikes piled with lobster baskets and the other required teams to paddle a traditional one-person boat that looked like a basket. Flo struggled at both and could perform neither.

She had a colossal breakdown and nearly quit the race. Her breakdown in Vietnam is considered one of the most famous in "Amazing Race" history. In future seasons, fans would refer to a complaining contestant as a "Flo".

Answer: Eat 2.2 pounds of caviar in Russia

Colin is one of most notorious racers the show ever had. He was known for his short temper that nearly got him arrested in Tanzania. His cab driver, in Colin's opinion, charged him an exorbitant amount for a ride to the airport. The driver was slow and was driving on a donut instead of a tire. Colin only paid the cabbie half of the amount asked for so the driver went to the police. Colin was nearly arrested but prevented it when his fiancee Christie convinced him to pay the full amount.

In the Philippines, Colin and Christie became the first team ever to be Yielded, that is to be forced to stop racing for a short amount of time. Colin and Christie were seen as the strongest team and also the least liked so it was no surprise when they were Yielded. In the same episode, Colin struggled at the Detour which involved an ox plow. Colin could not control his ox and yelled "my ox is broken" which became one of the show's most infamous quotes.

It was Christie, not Colin, who ate the 2.2. pounds of caviar in Russia at the Roadblock.

Answer: Haybales

Season 6 saw the show's first visit to Sweden. At the Roadblock, one team member was required to unroll large haybales for one with a clue inside. There were 270 haybales but only 20 had clues. Lena, of Lena and Kristy, opted to do the task. Her team was the third of nine to arrive but after eight hours, Lena was the only left still doing the task. Host Phil Keoghan had to go to the farm where they were at and eliminate them because Lena never found the clue. Phil estimated she had been searching for well over eight hours and unrolled at least 100 hay bales.

Answer: Joyce

The head shaving Fast Forward was previously featured (and unused) in Seasons 2 (where it went unaired) and season 5. Uchenna and Joyce opted to do the Fast Forward. Uchenna was already bald so only Joyce had to have her head shaved. Although she completed the task, she was visibly upset at having done so.

However, the good luck paid off and she and Uchenna ultimately wound up winning the race.

Answer: His passport

In Season 13, teams visited Russia. During a Roadblock there, Dallas was in a taxi on his way to his next location when he accidentally left his travel bag containing his passport in the cab. The cab driver left with it in the backseat. This rendered Dallas and his mother Toni effectively out of the race because a passport is needed for international travel. In addition, Dallas left all of his money in the same bag.

This was the first of a few times a team would lose one or both teammates' passports. Teams are not allowed to check in at the pit stop without both passports and other travel documents. Very few teams have been fortunate enough to go back on the race course and locate the missing passport.

Answer: Nat and Kat

For seventeen seasons, a team of two women had never won the "Amazing Race". This would be mentioned frequently throughout the preceding seasons where an all-female team would mention that they hoped to be the first to win. Prior to this season, only four teams of two women had even made it to the finals. Season 17 had two all-female teams in the finals, Nat and Kat and Brooke and Claire. Those two teams claimed the top two spots with Nat and Kat, a team of doctors, claiming victory. An all-female team also wound up winning the very next season when Kisha and Jen took the crown.

Answer: Through a viral incident on social media

This incident went viral as the race was ongoing. A customer at the same gas station had helped another team with directions and posted about seeing the racers on Twitter. The customer found Kaylani's passport on the ground and tweeted about it. This set off a massive effort on Twitter involving thousands of fans messaging the man to take the passport to the airport otherwise Kaylani and Lisa would have been eliminated because they were not able to leave the country. The man heeded the call and deliver the passport to Kaylani at LAX.

In a behind the scenes look, host Phil Keoghan stated he was actually on his way to the airport to eliminate Kaylani and Lisa when the man arrived shortly before the premature elimination was set to happen.

Answer: Jaymes and James

This was part of a plan hatched to eliminate a strong team in Abbie and Ryan. A series of unusual events led to three teams (Natalie and Nadiya, Jaymes and James and Trey and Lexi) being well ahead of two trailing teams (Ryan and Abbie and Josh and Brent). The front three teams conspired to eliminate Abbie and Ryan by U-Turning them and then having the second team to arrive at the U-Turn use it on the first team (the team that had U-Turned Abbie and Ryan). This essentially wasted the second slot (as Jaymes and James could not be U-Turned having been ahead of Trey and Lexi) but it prevented Abbie and Ryan from saving themselves by U-Turning Josh and Brent.

This strategy has been used many times since, although a blind U-Turn (in which a team does not have to identify themselves as the user) sometimes complicates it.