'The Amazing Race' eliminates Chester Pitts II and Ephraim Salaam

The Amazing Race eliminated Chester Pitts II and Ephraim Salaam during Sunday night's third broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 23rd season.


The "Former NFL Teammates" became the third team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's third Pit Stop at Castelo Dos Mouros, a ninth century castle, in Lisbon, Portugal, in last place.

"It was a great adventure, but to quote the great Ricky Bobby, 'If you're not first, you're last,'" Ephraim said following his team's ouster.

The third episode of The Amazing Race's 23rd edition began with the Race's nine remaining teams leaving the second Pit Stop at the Cascada De Las Animas, a natural paradise in the Andes mountains in Santiago, Chile.

Chester and Ephraim departed the second Pit Stop in first place at 6:27PM. Following Chester and Ephraim were "Cousins" Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran at 6:39PM, "Childhood Friends and Beard Lovers" Brandon Squyres and Adam Switzer at 6:58PM, "Married ER Doctors" Nicole Jasper and Travis Jasper at 7:41PM, "Dating Couple" Jason Case and Amy Diaz at 7:25PM, "Best Friends" Tim Wiyninger and Daniel "Danny" Merkey at 12:25AM, "LA Kings Ice Crew Girls" Allison "Ally" Mello and Ashley Covert at 12:27AM, "Exes" Timothy Sweeney and Marie "Reebs" Mazzocchi at 12:33AM, and "Baseball Wives" Nicole "Nicky" Getz and Kim DeJesus at 1:00AM.


The teams' first set of clues instructed them to fly to Lisbon, Portugal, and upon arrival, race to Martim Moniz Square and ride a tram to the top of the hill where they would find their next clue.

Chester and Ephraim headed straight to the travel agency and booked a flight that would arrive in Lisbon at 7AM. They thought they had snagged the only remaining seats on the flight. However, the pair ran into Nicole and Travis, who booked the same flight.

The woman helping Chester and Ephraim then told the men the flight was no longer available, which didn't make sense to them since Nicole and Travis got tickets on it. It turned out that the agent had put the wrong date into the computer, booking Chester and Ephraim on a flight the next day. Therefore, Nicole and Travis got the only seats on the earliest flight which Chester and Ephraim had originally thought they had booked.

Chester and Ephraim then found another flight that would get them into Lisbon at noon. However, the agent called Chester and Ephraim at the airport, saying she had been actively searching other flights due to her mistake. She discovered an earlier flight that would unfortunately give them two connecting flights with a 7AM arrival time in Lisbon. The guys were willing to take the risk  of the connections and booked the tickets.

Meanwhile, Nicky and Kim, Timothy and Marie and Jason and Amy all booked the flight via Sao Paolo that would arrive in Lisbon at noon, which was the same flight Nicole and Travis were on. However, all the teams had a later connection than Nicole and Travis -- who were anticipating a solid five-hour lead.


Nicky and Kim, Timothy and Marie and Jason and Amy eventually all tried to get on the stand-by connecting flight that Nicole and Travis were on, and Jason and Amy and Nicky and Kim succeeded. Timothy and Marie were surprised Nicky and Kim were first on the stand-by list without letting them know. At that point, Timothy and Marie agreed there was no shot they'd give their extra Express Pass to the girls.

Leo and Jamal and Ally and Ashley booked a flight via London that would arrive in Lisbon at 11AM. Leo and Jamal tried to convince Tim and Danny to get on their same flight because the guys figured they could beat both teams. However, Tim and Danny didn't trust Leo and Jamal, so they found their own flight that connected in Madrid and arrived in Lisbon at 10AM. Tim and Danny lied to Timothy and Marie about the flight, which Brandon and Adam also got on.                

Meanwhile, Chester and Ephraim continued to experience travel problems. Their flight to Madrid got delayed four hours, so they found another flight that connected in Sao Paolo and would catch them up to the rest of the teams. However, that flight got delayed by two hours. Once they landed, they missed their connecting flight to Lisbon due to the delay. Therefore, they were stuck booking a flight via London that left at 3:45AM. Unfortunately, that flight got delayed as well.

Jason and Amy were the first team to arrive at the clue after taking a tram to the top of a hill. They were followed by Nicole and Travis, Nicky and Kim, Tim and Danny, Brandon and Adam, Leo and Jamal, Ally and Ashley, and Timothy and Marie.

The clue was a picture that led the teams to Museu Nacional Dos Coches, or the National Coach Museum, for their next clue. It then became time for the teams to complete one of two Detour tasks: "Tiles" or "Miles."


"Tiles" required the teams to assemble a life-size puzzle out of delicate tiles.

"Miles" required the teams to use a giant navigation instrument and a huge map to figure out how far Magellan had sailed to 10 different destinations. Once within 500 miles, they'd receive their next clue.

Nicole and Travis, Jason and Amy, Tim and Danny, Ally and Ashley, and Leo and Jamal all opted to try "Miles." Nicky and Kim, Brandon and Adam and Timothy and Marie tried the "Tiles" task.

However, Ally and Ashley, as well as Leo and Jamal, struggled with the map navigation task and ended up switching to the "Tiles" one halfway through.

Jason and Amy and Nicole and Travis worked together to get the task done, so they were both the first teams to finish the Detour. They were then followed by Nicky and Kim, Tim and Danny, Brandon and Adam, Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, and finally Tim and Marie. Chester and Ephraim were still traveling.


The pairs then learned they must travel to Clube Portugues de Tiro a Chumbo, where one member of each team would complete a Roadblock task.

Jason and Amy arrived at the destination first, and they were soon followed by Nicole and Travis, Nicky and Kim, Tim and Danny, Brandon and Adam, Ally and Ashley, Leo and Jamal, and Timothy and Marie.

For the Roadblock, the team members were instructed to put on a knight's suit of armor and then use a giant sling and arrow to hit one of several shield 150 feet away.

Jason, Travis, Kim, Danny, Adam, Ally, Jamal, and Timothy all took on the task on behalf of their teams.

Jason hit the target in one attempt, so he and Amy received their next clue first. They were told to head to the Pit Stop at Castelo Dos Mouros, a ninth-century castle.


Following Jason and Amy were Nicole and Travis, Nicky and Kim, Tim and Danny, Brandon and Adam, Leo and Jamal, Ally and Ashley, and Timothy and Marie. Chester and Ephraim were still nowhere to be seen.

On the way to the Pit Stop, Jason and Amy were bickering over the directions and had trouble finding their way up the hill to the castle. Therefore, Nicole and Travis were able to jump ahead of the couple, meeting The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan at the Pit Stop mat in first place.

For finishing before any of the other teams, Nicole and Travis won a trip for two to Costa Rica. Jason and Amy subsequently secured second place and were followed by Nicky and Kim in third, Tim and Danny in fourth, and Brandon and Adam in fifth place.

Leo and Jamal and their "wives" Ally and Ashley were in a foot-race to the finish. However, Leo and Jamal claimed sixth place and Ally and Ashley finished in seventh. Timothy and Marie then arrived at the Pit Stop in eighth place.

Last night's episode then showed Phil surprising Chester and Ephraim at the Lisbon airport. After a series of delays and missed connections, the guys arrived in ninth -- and last -- place. The guys didn't have to complete any of the leg's tasks, and they knew seeing Phil was a bad sign.

"Uh oh, that's not good. I'm not really happy to see you right now, Phil. I'm going to be honest with you," Chester told Phil.


"I wish it was under better circumstances, but welcome to Lisbon, Portugal. All of the other teams have checked into the Pit Stop. That means that you are officially the last team to arrive, and I'm really sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the Race," Phil told the team.

"Damn flights got us, man," Chester said.

"I'm sad it's over, but you know what? This was a great experience. I got a chance to do it with Chester," Ephraim said.

"He wouldn't have had fun with anybody else!" Chester joked.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski