Dancing with the Stars has a new leaderboard topper: Professional race car driver James Hinchcliffe and his professional partner Sharna Burgess.
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James and Sharna finished in first place on Monday night's leaderboard out of the nine competing couples when they received 29 out of 30 points from Dancing with the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli during the ABC broadcast. Judge Len Goodman missed the episode due to another commitment.
James and Sharna performed a tango routine for this week's "Most Memorable Year" theme.
James shared the story of when he got into a near-fatal race car crash in 2015 and realized how precious life is. James flatlined on the operating table but blew through physical therapy and resumed his driving career one year later.
Little Women: LA star Terra Jole tied for second place at 27 points with fellow celebrity Marilu Henner, an actress and former The Celebrity Apprentice contestant.
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Terra and partner Sasha Farber danced a contemporary routine as a tribute to the year 2013, when Terra's beloved father passed away but she also started filming Little Women: LA, which changed her life for the better and made her dreams come true.
Marilu and partner Derek Hough took the stage with a Viennese waltz inspired by the year 1987, when Marilu joined the cast of Taxi several weeks after her mother died. Marilu doesn't believe her mom's death and the subsequent career opportunity was a coincidence.
Fourth place went to country singer Jana Kramer and partner Gleb Savchenko. The couple earned 26 points from the judges for their contemporary routine which honored the birth of Jana's baby girl, Jolie Rae Caussin, in 2016.
Olympic gold gymnast Laurie Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy finished the night in fifth place on the judges' leaderboard. The pair received 25 points from the judges for their paso doble, which paid tribute to the year 2016 when Laurie won a gold medal at the Olympics in Rio after overcoming many injuries.
The remaining four couples tied for sixth place on the judges' leaderboard with 24 points.
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The Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick and partner Artem Chigvintsev danced the foxtrot as a way to honor the year 1985, when Maureen married her husband, who saved her from a dark place and rock-bottom cocaine addiction that lasted for years.
Retired NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. and partner Lindsay Arnold performed a jazz routine, reflecting back on the year 2012 when Calvin broke Jerry Rice's football record of single-season receiving yards and his family was incredibly proud of him.
Olympic gold swimmer and former What Would Ryan Lochte Do? star Ryan Lochte and partner Cheryl Burke took the stage with a contemporary routine inspired by the year 2008, when Ryan won his first individual gold medal at the Olympics. He dedicated the dance to his supportive mother.
Talk show host and model Amber Rose and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced the samba, paying tribute to the year 2013 when she gave birth to her beautiful son Sebastian Taylor Thomaz.
There will be no Dancing with the Stars elimination this week, so the next ABC broadcast will air on Monday, October 17 at 8PM ET/PT.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski