‘I didn’t know I could go that fast’: Virginia pizza maker breaks record – WTOP News

A general manager of a Domino’s Pizza in Manassas, Virginia, won the chain’s “World’s Fastest Pizza Maker” competition this month.

Richard Delcid prepared a pepperoni pizza, mushroom pizza and cheese pizza for the oven in 31.22 seconds.

“I didn’t know I could go that fast,” Delcid told WTOP.

“Eight seconds better than the previous record,” Robert Donner, one of the owners of the Domino’s on Centreville Road, said.

The competitors at the May 13 Las Vegas event came from Domino’s locations around the world, and Donner said the competition is about more than speed.

“They’re judged by weight, they’re judged by portion, and they’re judged on whether they’re sellable to a customer,” Donner said.

When Delcid first started working for Domino’s in 2012, he was a teenager. He was much slower then, he joked.

As with anything, practice makes perfect.

“We record ourselves during practices,” Delcid said. “We dissect videos, we look at body movement, hand movement, everything.”

Delcid was not alone in Vegas. Donner, who is part owner of more than 30 Domino’s Pizza locations in Virginia and Maryland, brought dozens of employees to the event.

Coming in second at the competition was another member of Donner’s team.

Joe Burr, who is known 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.

“I’ve won third place a couple times, I’ve won second place like three or four times,” Burr said. “So I’m like always a bridesmaid, but never a bride.”

Don’t let Burr’s jokes fool you — he has known Delcid for a long time and is very proud of him.

“I like to say it’s not the sculptor, it’s the clay. Richard is the best clay,” Burr said.

Along with a championship belt and a trophy, Delcid’s record‑breaking performance earned him $5,000 from Domino’s Pizza corporate, and his local bosses kicked in another $5,000.