Mike Shiplett will serve as Patrick Carpentier’s team director on the #10 Valvoline Evernham Racing Dodge for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series, a Gillett Evernham Motorsports official says. Keith Barnwell, general manager of Gillett Evernham’s Nationwide Series team, confirmed the move for Shiplett from the Nationwide Series (formerly Busch Series) team. Gillett Evernham swapped team directors – the team’s nomenclature for crew chief – toward the end of the ’07 season, with Rodney Childers moving from the #10 to the #19 team of Elliott Sadler. Shiplett joined the #10 Cup team for the last two races of 2007. Shiplett led Kasey Kahne to two Busch Series victories in ’07 after previously working on the team’s Nextel Cup operation. Shiplett will be replaced as Nationwide team director by Kirk Almquist, who had served as car director for Sadler.(SceneDaily.com)(12-13-2007)
