Dennis Kitts

Dennis Kitts is a lifelong Puyallup resident who is one of the winningest drivers in local auto racing. A 1971 Puyallup High School graduate, Kitts was born in Puyallup on June 12, 1953.

Starting his career in go-karts where he won two Season Championships, Dennis moved into the Washington Midget Racing Association (WMRA) in the late 1970's and quickly became a winner. He won his first WMRA season title in 1980 followed by titles in 1984 and 1992; he also took the 1992 Championship in the Spanaway Speedway VW Midget Series as well as the 1985 title in the traveling SMORS series.

Dennis was one of the most successful WMRA drivers during the 1980's which is considered one of the Golden Ages of midget racing in the Northwest. WMRA fields at that time included future Indy driver Davey Hamilton as well as Mike Bliss a future USAC and NASCAR Champion and Rick Moss, WMRA's all time winningest driver.

Dennis enjoyed most of his success in the midgets throughout the Western U.S. but he also scored wins in stock cars, supermodifieds and Figure 8 racers. After starting his career as an owner/driver Dennis drove for many car owners including Puyallup's Ken Martin, Tacoma Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame member Jim Crews as well as Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Gordon Reelie.

In addition to racing up and down the west coast, Dennis was also a successful event promoter. His first events, Bag & Save Nights at Spanaway Speedway, developed into the Super Midget Outlaw Racing Series (SMORS) which showcased top midget racing talent at a limited number of events throughout the west. SMORS was one of the most popular series with fans and drivers for its entire five-year run.

Dennis was a threat every time he got behind the wheel of any kind of racecar. He was ranked one of the top five drivers in the long history of Spanaway Speedway in a News Tribune article in 2000.