Rossi, Daly survive Week 1 of Amazing Race

“You didn’t die, so that’s huge." – Conor Daly

The race is on.

Verizon IndyCar Series drivers Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly placed fifth of the 11 teams in Wednesday's opening leg of the 30th season of “The Amazing Race."

The opening episode of CBS’ Emmy Award-winning reality adventure show saw the teams head from New York to Iceland.

After landing at the airport, Rossi and Daly arrived third at the first clue box – a 150-foot traverse over the Geitargljufur River, where Rossi had to retrieve the Icelandic flag. The Andretti Autosport driver easily accomplished the task and helped the pair gain second place.

But that’s when the team hit a roadblock, literally.

In the #SpellItOut event, one member of the team had to ride in an off-road buggy across a riverbed and find letters in the correct order that spelled “Ingolfstorg," a square located in Reykjavik, which was the next stop. Daly took on the task but struggled to put the letters in the correct order after failing to realize that the numbers alongside the letters indicated their correct order.

He finally accomplished the task after two attempts in the buggy, and the team headed to Iceland’s capital in fifth place.

After the next stop, where the teams had to find a strongwoman who asked them questions about two local beverages the teams needed to identify, the pair raced to the pit stop for the round. Host Phil Keoghan explained the drivers' unique living arrangement to Miss Iceland, who greeted the teams.

“Conor is living on (Alex’s) couch," Keoghan said. “Alex is a little keen for them to win so they can have a little independence."

“That’s the plan," Rossi replied. “He needs a house. I need my couch back."

Team Extreme (freestyle skiers Kristi Leskinen and Jen Hudak) won the leg followed by Team Big Brother, Team Yale and Team Well Strung. The team of ring girls was the first team eliminated.