Yeah, i remember that. You could totally mess up the order by making them get lower places in the first race.
ASF, snaking is what you have seen in that Double Dash video. It's the continues (spl?) use of the power slide, giving extra boosts. Doing this the entire race, will pretty much ensure your victory. However, it is regarded as something very low/cheap, as it makes sure that un-experienced players have no chance whatsoever.
The fact that you go from right to left, to right, to left, resembles the movements of a snake's body when it's crawling around, thus calling it snaking.