Richard Delcid, the general manager of a Domino’s Pizza in Manassas, Virginia, won the chain’s “World’s Fastest Pizza Maker” competition this month after prepping three pizzas in 31.22 seconds—eight seconds faster than the previous record. He earned a champion
“I didn’t know I could go that fast.”
Richard Delcid, the general manager of a Domino’s Pizza in Manassas, Virginia, said those words after winning the chain’s “World’s Fastest Pizza Maker” competition this month—an event where speed is only part of the point.
Delcid prepared a pepperoni pizza, a mushroom pizza and a cheese pizza for the oven in 31.22 seconds. Robert Donner, one of the owners of the Domino’s on Centreville Road, said Delcid’s run was eight seconds better than the previous record.
Donner framed the competition as more than a stopwatch. Competitors are judged by weight, by portion, and by whether the pizzas are sellable to a customer.
Delcid’s journey into that kind of precision started years earlier. When he first began working for Domino’s in 2012, he was a teenager, and he joked that he was “much slower then.” Over time, he said practice became the difference.
“We record ourselves during practices,” Delcid said. “We dissect videos, we look at body movement, hand movement, everything.”
He wasn’t the only one chasing the belt in Las Vegas on May 13. Donner brought dozens of employees from Domino’s locations around the world to the event, and he said Delcid wasn’t there alone.
Coming in second was another member of Donner’s team. Joe Burr—known locally as “Domino Joe”—is the local director of training and calls himself the Dan Marino of the Domino’s World’s Fastest Pizza Maker competition. Burr said he has won third place a couple times and second place “like three or four times. ” adding. “So I’m like always a bridesmaid. but never a bride.”.
Burr’s jokes didn’t mask his pride in Delcid. He said he has known Delcid for a long time and described the win as deserved.
“I like to say it’s not the sculptor, it’s the clay. Richard is the best clay,” Burr said.
The victory came with tangible rewards: a championship belt and a trophy. It also brought $5,000 from Domino’s Pizza corporate, and Delcid’s local bosses kicked in another $5,000.
Domino's Pizza World’s Fastest Pizza Maker Richard Delcid Manassas Virginia Robert Donner Joe Burr Domino Joe Las Vegas May 13 31.22 seconds pepperoni mushroom cheese