[1] He moved up the ladder of racing, from street stocks to late models before going to college and graduating with a degree in diesel technology from the University of Northwestern Ohio in 1992.
[3] Shiplett earned his first job as a mechanic for Liberty Racing in 1995 as they made their transition into the brand-new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
[4] Shiplett got his first big break in 2003, when he was hired by Evernham Motorsports to serve as the lead mechanic for the team's No.
[5] Kahne had one of his best seasons with Shiplett and crew chief Kenny Francis in 2006, winning a career-high 6 races en-route to an 8th-place finish in that year's Chase for the Nextel Cup.
[6] Due to the success of the 2006 season, Shiplett was rewarded with his first opportunity as crew chief (which Evernham Motorsports referred to as a "team director").
Things came to a head at the fall race at Talladega, where Carpentier failed to qualify for the fifth time that season.
43 and 44 teams switched at Michigan, with Shiplett becoming the new crew chief for A. J. Allmendinger in the 44 for the final 14 races of the season.
[16][17] Allmendinger and Shiplett improved on their brief 2009 season with a points finish of 19th and a pole at Phoenix Raceway.
[19][20] After eight years at Richard Petty Motorsports and its predecessors, Shiplett was fired on July 18, 2011 after the New Hampshire race.
[24] Shiplett was also a crew chief in the Truck Series for 1 race at Rockingham Speedway with Kahne, which they won.
[25] Shiplett returned to Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2013 and 2014 seasons and joined their research and development team along with being the car chief for the No.
[32] Shiplett's team improved on their 2015 campaign, finishing 7th in the owner's championship and scoring 3 wins, 2 by Larson and 1 by Marks.
42 team returned for the 2017 season, adding new development drivers Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick.
After the season, Chip Ganassi Racing's Xfinity program folded and Shiplett was released from Chip Ganassi Racing after the team's main sponsor, DC Solar, was exposed as a Ponzi scheme and forced to shut down.
00 Xfinity Series program, working exclusively with driver Cole Custer for the full season.
In contention for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Custer was unable to pass Tyler Reddick in the closing laps and finished second in the race and in the overall points standings.
[53] Early in the season after the 2021 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, Shiplett was suspended for 1 race and fined $20,000 for failing post–race inspection.
[59] On January 19, 2024, it was announced that Shiplett would be joining Bret Holmes Racing to crew chief their No.
42 truck to finish the year, with Mills' crew chief Jon Leonard being moved to the team's part-time No.
[60][61] Shiplett was born and raised in Amherst, Ohio[2] although he currently lives in Denver, North Carolina (in the Charlotte metropolitan area where most NASCAR teams are based) with his wife, Brooke.