RedLegoMonkey essentially said most of the things, but a few extra things not mentioned, if you want good items you can intentionally lag behind, in first you will mostly get coins, shells, and bananas, which really only offer green and red shell protection, in 2nd place you have a 70% chance of getting a red shell, and in (I think at least) 3rd to 5th place you have high mushroom odds, and at the start you can intentionally stay at the back (called bagging) where you get the best items, allowing you to chain them into more good items as you go to the front, and if done right you now have a star in first place, just for it to get taken by a boo