“Pocono Raceway Fire Chief: Getting to Know, Dave ‘Chico’ Richards”
Written by: Chrissi Wolosz – Coordinator, Marketing Communications
Pocono Raceway (September 7, 2020) – Dave Richards, or as everyone knows him by, ‘Chico’, is going into his 19th season at Pocono Raceway. Since July of 2001 Chico has been making his way up the ladder at Pocono Raceway’s Fire Department and for the past 5 years has found himself assuming the highest role as Fire Chief.
Chico, a father of 3, has dedicated much of his time and energy into the one thing he loves doing, being a fire fighter. When first starting at the track, Chico’s had knowledge and experience in vehicle rescue and extraction which aligned perfectly with the type of personnel needed on race weekends. His second race at Pocono he was put to work and never looked back. As those in rank saw the potential and hard work in Chico, he was given the opportunity to further his knowledge by attending NASCAR programs to become a certified NASCAR Training Instructor. Within a few more years, Chico found himself as Assistant Chief at Pocono Raceway and shortly after, Fire Chief.
The community of fire fighters lead by Chico is a close-knit community. Firefighters from all around the country travel to the Pocono Mountains to assist in the execution in the wild weekend, race weekend. With many people coming from far and wide, this is the time to catch up with old and new friends (imagine the numerous stories each person has to share). But with the busy weekend and all duty stations to be fulfilled, the only time ALL safety personnel members are together – race weekend safety meetings. This happens to be Chico’s favorite parts of weekend. On race weekends, Pocono Raceway becomes the third largest paid first responding crew in Pennsylvania, with over 200 dedicated safety workers. That is definitely something to be proud of.
Chico leads safety personnel on race weekends, all lease event clients at the track and also hold safety training sessions to the Pocono Raceway staff members. And his special touch, always adding a bit of humor for fun. For those of you who may not know Chico…he is a respectable leader that brings tremendous amounts of positivity into everyone’s life. Here is a little glimpse of the comical and easy-going man he is. When asked to share a secret recipe of his, he states the following: “Sure, it’s called a screwball cake. Actually, a chocolate cake my mother used to make. Very few items to make it. And she said it was easy! Even a screwball could make it.” And that, is Mr. Dave ‘Chico’ Richards.
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