2015 Prince Edward Island general election
The 2015 Prince Edward Island general election was held May 4, 2015, to elect members of the 65th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. Under amendments passed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 2008, Prince Edward Island elections are usually held on the first Monday of October in the fourth calendar year, unless it is dissolved earlier by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island due to a motion of no confidence. The current government had hinted that an election would be held "before Mother's Day" 2015, and such a dissolution would avoid any conflicts with the next federal election, expected to be held in October 2015.


2015 Prince Edward Island general election
The governing Liberals were elected to a third consecutive majority government under Premier Wade MacLauchlan, while the Progressive Conservatives made slight gains despite party leader Rob Lantz failing to win election in Charlottetown-Brighton. The Green Party, meanwhile, won its first seat in the legislature, with leader Peter Bevan-Baker elected in Kellys Cross-Cumberland. The New Democratic Party was shut out.


2015 Princeton Tigers football team
The 2015 Princeton Tigers football team represented Princeton University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Bob Surace and played their home games at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium. Princeton was member of the Ivy League. They finished the season 5–5 overall and 2–5 in Ivy League play to place sixth.


2015 Princeton Tigers football team, Legacy Bowl
During the off season, Princeton participated in the 2015 Legacy Bowl. The team traveled to the Kincho Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan to play Kwansei Gakuin University of the Kansai Collegiate American Football League. Princeton won 36–7.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The 2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was a horse race held at Longchamp on Sunday 4 October 2015. It was the 94th running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The winner was Anthony Oppenheimer's Golden Horn, a three-year-old colt trained in England by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori. Golden Horn's victory was the first in the race for his owner and trainer and was a record-equaling fourth success for Dettori. Golden Horn became the seventh winner of the Epsom Derby to win the Arc, following Sea Bird, Mill Reef, Lammtarra, Sinndar, Sea the Stars and Workforce.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The contenders
The five-year-old mare Treve attempted to become the first horse to win the race three times after her successes in 2013 and 2014. She entered the race unbeaten in three races in 2015, including the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and the Prix Vermeille. Her main opposition seemed to come from two three-year-old colts: Golden Horn and New Bay. The British trained Golden Horn's wins had included the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes and the Irish Champion Stakes.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The contenders
New Bay had appeared to be the best middle-distance colt of his generation in France, winning the Prix du Jockey Club and the Prix Niel. Ireland was represented by Free Eagle (Prince of Wales's Stakes), Found (the top-rated filly of her generation in 2014) and Tapestry (Yorkshire Oaks). Apart from Golden Horn, the only other British challenger was Eagle Top who finished second in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The contenders
The other French contenders were Flintshire, Erupt (Grand Prix de Paris), Dolniya (Sheema Classic), Prince Gibraltar (Grosser Preis von Baden), Manatee (Grand Prix de Chantilly), Siljan's Saga (Grand Prix de Deauville), Silverwave (Prix La Force), Spiritjim (disqualified after winning the 2014 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud), Frine (Prix de Royallieu) and Shahah (Prix d'Aumale) who was expected to act as a pacemaker for Treve. Meleagros was a non-runner. Treve was made the 9/10 favourite ahead of New Bay on 4.8/1 and Golden Horn on 5.2/1. Free Eagle (16.8/1) and Flintshire (18.6/1) were next in the betting ahead of Dolniya (27/1), Found (28/1) and Erupt (29/1).


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The race
Sahah fulfilled her expected role as a pacemaker, taking the lead soon after the start. Flintshire and New Bay were close behind, whilst Dettori took Golden Horn to the far outside before tracking right to drop in just behind the leader. Treve was among the backmarkers in the early stages along with Found. As the field entered the straight Golden Horn went to the front, opened up a clear advantage and won by two lengths. Flintshire stayed on to take second just ahead of New Bay and Treve.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Subsequent breeding careers
Leading progeny of participants in the 2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Subsequent breeding careers, Stallions
Free Eagle (6th) – Khalifa Sat (2nd Epsom Derby 2020), Justifier (1st Caravaggio Stakes 2019)Golden Horn (1st) – West End Girl (1st Sweet Solera Stakes 2019)New Bay (3rd) – Minor flat winnersPrince Gibraltar (7th) – Minor flat winnersManatee (11th) – Offspring yet to raceSilverwave (10th) – Standing in FranceFlintshire (2nd) – Exported to America – Offspring yet to raceErupt (5th) – Exported to South AfricaEagle Top (15th) – Exported to Czech Republic


2015 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Subsequent breeding careers, Broodmares
Tapestry (16th) – Minor flat winnerFrine (14th) – Minor flat runnerShahah (17th) – Minor flat runnerTreve (4th) – Offspring yet to raceSiljan's Saga (8th) – Offspring yet to raceFound (9th) – Offspring yet to raceDolniya (13th) – Offspring yet to race


2015 Priya Pillai offloading
The Priya Pillai offloading of January 2015 was an incident in India where an environmental activist was offloaded from a flight in order to prevent her from testifying internationally on the activity of a firm registered in the UK.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading
Later, the Ministry of Home Affairs (India) argued that her deposition before a British parliamentary committee would have been "prejudicial to national interest"In its judgment, the Delhi High Court observed that dissent "may not be palatable; even so, it cannot be muzzled."


2015 Priya Pillai offloading
The incident has been widely discussed in India as evidence suggesting a possible trend towards eroding Freedom of expression in India under the Bharatiya Janata Party government. International media has also been critical of the Narendra Modi Government.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background
The government was interested in promoting coal energy, and in the work of the Mahan Coal Limited, a joint venture of the UK-registered firm Essar Energy with Hindalco, to mine coal in an old sal forest area in Madhya Pradesh. Priya Pillai, who works with Greenpeace India, had been campaigning actively in Mahan for several years.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background
In January 2015, she was to testify before the  British All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal Peoples chaired by Martin Horwood, which was looking at the role of Essar Power. At the airport on 11 January, immigration officials offloaded her from the flight,but no reason was given to her for this act.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background
Pillai wrote twice to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs wishing to know the legal basis for the offloading, but received no reply. She then took the matter to Delhi High Court, with her lawyer Indira Jaising arguing that there had been a "simultaneous violation of the right to free speech, right to freedom of association and personal liberty of movement."


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background
In a leaked report from June 2014, Greenpeace was accused of mounting protests that had brought down India's GDP by 2-3%. In September 2014, a British greenpeace activist was deported from India despite having a valid visa.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background, The Government's Justification
The Ministry of Home Affairs was given a week to respond, but sought several extensions. Eventually, the Ministry filed an affidavit stating that the action was based on a look-out circular issued the day before her flight, at the request of the Intelligence Bureau.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background, The Government's Justification
The reason given was that Pillai "would project the image of Indian Government 'negatively' at the international level." The government claimed that "in-person testimony of local activists" dealing with sensitive subjects such as "religious freedom, tribal people, indigenous people, violence against women, human trafficking and dalit rights" damaged the country's reputation. This was particularly problematic since India was at least two decades behind the west in the energy sector. A "negative image" of India would "whittle down foreign direct investments”, and it was claimed that she was involved in "anti-national activities". At the same time, since the LOC is a "secret" document, it could not be shown to her.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background, The Government's Justification
At one point, the Assistant Attorney General Sanjay Jain told the court:


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Background, The Government's Justification
Justice Shakdher wanted to know why the government had singled out an individual citizen. "The Indian state is not powerless. You have a plethora of trained diplomats doing a commendable job of protecting national interests. I don’t see how the state cannot meet the challenge posed,"


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Judgment
In February, the Delhi High court expunged the ban on travel for Pillai,  In his judgement, justice Rajiv Shakdher observed:


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Judgment
While the judgment states that the process by which Look-Out Circulars (LOC) are issued is not "enacted law", it did not strike it down.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Judgment, Media Speculation on reasons
What was surprising about the incident that it was issued despite many earlier instances where the courts had clearly stated that the right to issue LOC must be exercised with caution. In 2010, Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi high court stated that "The power to suspend, even temporarily, a passport of a citizen, the power to issue an LOC, the power to offload a passenger and prevent him or her from travelling are all extraordinary powers, vested in the criminal law enforcement agencies by the statutory law. These are powers that are required under the law, to be exercised with caution and only by the authorities who are empowered by law to do so and then again only for valid reasons."


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Judgment, Media Speculation on reasons
Thus, there was much media discussion regarding the motives for the action. It was seen as a continuation of harassment to activists involved in the Mahan Coal area.


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Judgment, Accusation of totalitarian tendencies
However, a broader issue was whether India was moving towards more restrictive views on personal liberty and freedom of speech, as in totalitarian regimes such as China. Former Attorney General Indira Jaysing said that "The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent." An editorial in the Statesman called it "another attempt at Fascist-authoritarianism". A columnist in Firstpost saw a broader tendency:


2015 Priya Pillai offloading, Judgment, Accusation of totalitarian tendencies
In a column in The Guardian, Aditya Chakrabortty remarked on lack of action from the Prime Minister in such incidents:


2015 Pro A Leaders Cup
The 2015 LNB Pro A Leaders Cup season was the 3rd edition of the Leaders Cup. The event included the eight top teams from the first half of the 2014–15 LNB Pro A regular season and was played in Disneyland Paris.


2015 Pro Bowl
The 2015 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2014 season. It began at 6 pm local time on January 25 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and it was the first Pro Bowl to be held outside Hawaii since 2010. The game was televised nationally by ESPN.


2015 Pro Bowl
The game continued the "unconferenced" format that was debuted in the 2014 Pro Bowl. The game was the third Pro Bowl that took place in the same site as that year's Super Bowl. It was also the sixth consecutive year where the Pro Bowl took place prior to the Super Bowl.


2015 Pro Bowl
Hall of Fame wide receivers Cris Carter and Michael Irvin were selected as the alumni captains of the game. Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys and John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens were the game's coaches. The coaches were to come from the teams with the best record in each conference to lose in the Divisional Round of the 2014–15 NFL playoffs, which has been the convention since the 2010 Pro Bowl. However, the Denver Broncos (the Divisional Round loser with the best record in the AFC) and head coach John Fox mutually agreed to part ways following their playoff loss, so Harbaugh (who coached the Ravens, the other Divisional Round loser from the AFC) was selected instead.


2015 Pro Duta FC season
Pro Duta Football Club played in Liga Indonesia Premier Division in 2015. Their homebase is in Teladan, Medan.


2015 Pro Duta FC season, Players, 2015 First Team Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Pro Duta FC season, Friendly Matches, International Friendly Matches, 2015 Viareggio Cup - Italia
The Torneo di Viareggio (English: Viareggio Tournament), official name Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale, is one of the most important youth football tournaments in the world. It is officially recognized by CONI, FIGC, UEFA and FIFA. It is held each year in Viareggio, Tuscany and its surroundings, starting on the begins the third last Carnival Monday. The tournament runs for a fortnight, and finishes on the last Monday of Carnival. For this reason, it is also known as Coppa Carnevale (Carnival Cup). In 2015 Viareggio Cup Pro Duta FC represented by its U-19 young team. In 2015 Viareggio Cup Pro Duta FC joined in Group 5 together with Inter Milan, K.R.C. Genk and Parma F.C..


2015 Pro Golf Tour
The 2015 Pro Golf Tour was the 19th season of the Pro Golf Tour, one of four third-tier tours recognised by the European Tour. In July, it was announced that all Pro Golf Tour events, beginning with the Lotos Polish Open, would receive Official World Golf Ranking points at the minimum level of 4 points for a winner of a 54-hole event.


2015 Pro Golf Tour, Schedule
The season consisted of 22 events in five countries. All tournaments had prize funds of €30,000 except the Castanea Resort Pro Golf Tour Championship, which had a prize fund of €50,000.


2015 Pro Golf Tour, Graduates
The top five players (not otherwise exempt) on the Order of Merit earned Challenge Tour cards for 2016. Since the third-place finisher earned Challenge Tour status in a higher category by making the cut in the final stage of Q School, the sixth-place finisher received the fifth card.


2015 Pro Kabaddi League season
The 2015 Pro Kabaddi League was the second season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season started on 18 July 2015. 56 games were played amongst 8 teams. First game was played between U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers. The event was broadcast live by Star Sports in India with commentary in 5 different languages - Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, English & Telugu.


2015 Pro Kabaddi League season, Fixtures and Results, Points Table
Source: (C) Champion; (R) Runners-up; (3) Third Place; (4) Fourth Place.


2015 Pro Mazda Championship
The 2015 Pro Mazda Championship was the 17th season in series history. The series consisted of sixteen races at nine tracks, having expanded from fourteen races in 2014; adding races at NOLA Motorsports Park, the Streets of Toronto, Iowa Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, while dropping races at Houston, Milwaukee and Sonoma Raceway. The season began on March 28 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and ended on September 13 at Laguna Seca.


2015 Pro Mazda Championship
Uruguay's Santiago Urrutia became the first champion from South America since Raphael Matos in 2005, driving for Team Pelfrey. Urrutia, who joined the series for the 2015 season after a year in GP3, won only three races during the season – at NOLA Motorsports Park, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Mid-Ohio – but consistent finishing (finishing 14 of 16 races in the top-5) saw him finish 53 points clear of his nearest rival in the championship standings.


2015 Pro Mazda Championship
Second place in the standings went to Cape Motorsports driver Neil Alberico, holding off a late-season challenge from Juncos Racing's Garett Grist for the position, by a tally of eight points. Alberico won four races during the season – which was the most by any driver, shared with Andretti Autosport's Weiron Tan – while Grist won three of the final six races including a weekend sweep at Laguna Seca.


2015 Pro Mazda Championship
Tan himself finished fourth in the championship, as five finishes outside the top ten as well as a five-point penalty early in the season hampered his championship bid. The championship top five was completed by France's Timothé Buret of Juncos Racing, one point behind Tan, who was a race-winner at Indianapolis. The only other race winner was Florian Latorre, a compatriot of Buret, who won on the Streets of Toronto for Cape Motorsports. He finished eighth in the drivers' championship, due to the result being one of only three podium finishes during the season.


2015 Pro Mazda Championship
In the teams' championship, Juncos Racing won the title mainly due to the results for Grist and Buret, with other team drivers José Gutiérrez and Will Owen. Juncos finished 39 points clear of Team Pelfrey. The expert drivers' championship for older drivers was won by World Speed Motorsports driver Bobby Eberle, taking 11 class wins during 2015.


2015 Pro Mazda Winterfest
The 2015 Pro Mazda Championship Winterfest was the second winter championship promoted by the series, the first being in 2014. It served as a prelude to the 2015 Pro Mazda Championship season. It consisted of five races held during two race meets, alongside the 2015 U.S. F2000 Winterfest. The previous edition included only four races, with two at each track.


2015 Pro Mazda Winterfest
Team Pelfrey's Jack Aitken and Andretti Autosport driver Weiron Tan were the main title protagonists, sharing all five victories between them. Tan amassed the most points with race results – two wins and three second places – but a five-point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on the podium at NOLA Motorsports Park allowed Aitken to take the championship title by one point ahead of Tan. Third place went to Tan's team-mate Dalton Kellett, who took his only podium finish in the final race at Barber Motorsports Park, which awarded double points after one of the track's scheduled three races was canceled due to bad weather.


2015 Pro Mazda Winterfest, Race calendar and results
The series schedule, along with the other Road to Indy series schedules, was announced on November 3, 2014.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final
The 2015 Pro12 Grand Final was the final match of the 2014–15 Pro12 season. The 2014–15 season was the first with Guinness as the title sponsor and the sixth ever League Grand Final. The final was played between Glasgow Warriors and Munster.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final
Glasgow won their first title, winning on a 31–13 scoreline.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Route to the final, 2015 Play-offs
The semi-finals followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system with the games being played at the home ground of the higher placed teams.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Build-up
In January 2015, the tournament organisers confirmed that the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast would host the final. The organisers chose to move away from giving home advantage to the highest placed finisher at the end of the regular season.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Build-up
Munster were looking to win the title for a fourth time, the last win being in 2011 against Leinster, while Glasgow had never won the title.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Build-up
The match was shown live on Sky Sports in Ireland and the UK, on TG4 in Ireland and on BBC Two Scotland in Scotland. Both teams received an allocation of 2,000 tickets after the public sale sold out in April.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Build-up
Conor Murray was an injury doubt to start for Munster after he was forced off in the semi-final with an injury to the medial ligament in his right knee, he may be replaced again by Duncan Williams at scrum-half. Paul O'Connell was expected to play his last game for Munster in the final.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Match, Summary
Rob Harley scored the first try for Glasgow in the 9th minute which was converted by Finn Russell. Ian Keatley got the first score for Munster, a penalty in the 23rd minute. Glasgow then scored two try's without reply to lead 21-3 in the 32nd minute and lead 10-21 at half time, Andrew Smith scored the Munster try just before half time. Ian Keatley reduced the lead to 13-21 in the 48th minute with another penalty for Munster but a Finn Russell try and conversion in the 58th minute made the score 13-28 in favor of Glasgow. Another penalty for Glasgow by Duncan Weir with seven minutes to go made the final score 13-31.


2015 Pro12 Grand Final, Match, Details
Touch judges:Ian Davies (WRU)Sean Brickell (WRU)Television match official:Derek Bevan (WRU)


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election
The 2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election was held on May 9, 2015, as a result of the resignation of Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak following the provincial election on June 12, 2014, his second loss in a row as party leader. Patrick Brown won the leadership with 61.8% of votes allocated, defeating Christine Elliott who had 38.2%.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Rules and procedure
The party's 76,587 members were eligible to cast votes by preferential ballot. The vote will be weighted so that each of the province's 107 ridings that has more than 100 votes cast are allocated 100 electoral votes;  ridings in which fewer than 100 party members vote will not be weighted, but will instead have the votes counted as individual votes. If at least 100 members votes in each riding the number of electoral college votes needed to win will be 5,351. The registration fee was $75,000 plus a refundable deposit of $25,000 and the spending limit was $1.25 million.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Rules and procedure
20% of money raised by candidates after the first $100,000 will be transferred to the PC Ontario Fund. The lowest ranked candidate will be dropped from the next round as ballots are counted, and the first candidate to get 50 per cent of the votes will be declared the new leader.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Interim leadership
The following MPPs stood in the July 2, 2014, election by caucus to be interim leader of the party until the leadership election for a permanent leader is held:


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Interim leadership
Jim Wilson was elected by caucus to be interim leader and also assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition. Vote totals were not released.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Declared candidates, Patrick Brown
Federal Conservative Party MP for Barrie (2006–2015), Barrie City Councillor (2000–2006), President of the Progressive Conservative Youth Federation (PCYF) (1998–2002). Former vice-president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Lawyer by profession.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Declared candidates, Christine Elliott
MPP since 2006 (Whitby—Ajax (2006–2007), Whitby—Oshawa (2007–2015). Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Critic for Health and Long-Term Care since 2009. Ran in the 2009 leadership election, placing third. Widow of former federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty. Prior to entering politics, Elliott was a lawyer who practiced corporate, estate and real estate law.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Withdrawn, Vic Fedeli
MPP for Nipissing (2011–present), Opposition Finance Critic (2013–present), Energy Critic (2011–2013), Finance Critic (2013–Present), Fedeli served as mayor of North Bay, Ontario (2003–2010) for two terms, during which he donated his entire salary to charity. Before entering politics, he ran Fedeli Advertising, which in 1989 was ranked by Profit - the magazine for Small Business as the firm 34th on its list of 50 Best Places to Work in Canada. Fedeli was also recognized as one of Canada's Most Successful Entrepreneurs in an episode of MoneyMakers, hosted by Everett Banning. Additionally, Fedeli served as the dollar-per-year chairman of a non-profit organization in North Bay. Fedeli's campaign is called "".


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Withdrawn, Lisa MacLeod
MPP for Nepean—Carleton (2006–present), Opposition Treasury Board Critic (2014–present), Energy and Francophone Affairs Critic (2013–2014), Education Critic (2011–2013), Revenue and Government Accountability Critic (2009–2011).


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, Withdrawn, Monte McNaughton
MPP for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex (2011–present), Opposition Critic for Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade (2014–present), Labour Critic (2013–2014), Economic Development and Innovation Critic (2011–2013). Prior to entering provincial politics, McNaughton sat on the city council of Newbury and was general manager and co-owner of McNaughton Family Shopping Centre in Newbury. He also served as chair of the Newbury Economic Development Committee and was president of the Strathroy and District Chamber of Commerce in 2009–10.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election
The Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island selected a new leader on February 28, 2015, to replace Olive Crane who resigned on January 31, 2013. The Progressive Conservatives have been the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island since June 12, 2007, having lost the 2007 and 2011 provincial elections to the Liberals. The interim leader was Steven Myers.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election
The party used a preferential ballot for its leadership convention for the first time. Voting also occurred at satellite voting sites in Bloomfield, Summerside, Souris and Montague.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election
The election was won by former Charlottetown City Councillor Rob Lantz on the second ballot. The party executive decided prior to voting not to release vote totals in the interests of party unity; however it was later reported that Compton was eliminated after the first ballot and that Lantz then narrowly defeated Aylward on the second ballot.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election, Nomination rules
The nomination period opened on December 1, 2014. To be nominated, a candidate had to obtain 100 signatures from party members living in 14 of the 27 Island districts and pay an entry fee of $10,000. The deadline for nominations was January 23, 2015.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election, Declared candidates, Darlene Compton
Businesswoman, head of operations at the Dr. John M. Gillis Memorial Lodge, one of the largest private sector long-term care facilities in PEI, candidate in 2011 provincial election (Belfast-Murray River), lost to incumbent by eight votes.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election, Results
Voting was conducted by preferential ballot in which voters ranked their preferences. A candidate was required to win 50% + 1 of the votes cast. As no candidate achieved a majority on the first ballot, the lowest placed candidate was dropped and the second choice listed on those candidates ballots were added to the vote totals of the remaining two candidates in order to determine a winner.


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election, Results
No candidate received more than 50% of the vote after the first count; Compton eliminated


2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leadership election, Results
Lantz had a majority of the vote on the second count and was declared the winner


2015 Prosperita Open
The 2015 Prosperita Open was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the 12th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Ostrava, Czech Republic between 27 April and 3 May.


2015 Prosperita Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Prosperita Open – Doubles
Andrey Kuznetsov and Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras were the defending champions, but they did not participate this year.


2015 Prosperita Open – Doubles
Andrej Martin and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo won the title, defeating Roman Jebavý and Jan Šátral in the final, 4–6, 7–5, [10–1].


2015 Prosperita Open – Singles
Andrey Kuznetsov was the defending champion, but he did not participate this year.


2015 Prosperita Open – Singles
Íñigo Cervantes won the title, defeating Adam Pavlásek in the final, 7–6(7–5), 6–4.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election
The 2017 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election took place from December 6 to 13 to renew the 123 members of the regional council.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election
On the first round, the Front National with Marion Maréchal-Le Pen as its candidate arrive ahead with 40.6% of the vote, 14 points ahead of the right-wing candidate Christian Estrosi and 24 points ahead of the incumbent party, the PS, whose candidate decided to withdrew his list from the second round, to allow Christian Estrosi a one-on-one round with the FN.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election
On the second round, the right won the most votes, but the FN achieved more than 45% of the vote, the best result to date of the far-right in any region.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election
The right took the Presidency after 17 years of socialist rule with Michel Vauzelle.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Voting system
The regional elections are held in direct universal suffrage using proportional representation lists. The election is held over two rounds, with majority bonus. The lists must be gender balanced by alternatively have a male candidate and a female candidate from the top to the bottom of the list. Only lists with as many candidates as available seats in every departement of the region may compete.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Voting system
Following the 1999 and 2003 electoral reforms, with a first implementation in 2004, a two-round runoff voting system is used to elect the regional presidents. If no party gets at least 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is held, which any party who got at least 10% in the first round may enter. Lists that obtain at least 5% of the vote in the first round may merge in the second round with a 'qualified list', which includes candidates from each merged list.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Voting system
At the decisive round (first round if a list won 50%, the second round if not), the leading list receives a premium of 25% of the seats while the remaining seats are distributed among all lists who received at least 5% of votes. Thus, the majority bonus allows a leading list to have an absolute majority of seats in the Regional Council from one third of votes in the second round. The seats are distributed among the lists at the regional level but within each list, seats are allocated by departement branch in proportion to the number of votes in each department.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Voting system
In the regional council there are 123 members, and they are elected in the 6 departments(4 members for Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, 4 for Hautes-Alpes, 28 for the Alpes-Maritimes, 47 for the Bouches-du-Rhône, 27 for the Var and 13 for Vaucluse


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Results
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur uses a two-round runoff system to elect the regional president, and if not candidate win at least 50% on the first round there are another and definitive round.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Results, First round
The first round election was held on 6 December 2015.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Results, Second round
Runoff elections were held on 13 December 2015 in regions where no candidate was able to win outright in the first round.


2015 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional election, Results, Second round
Christian Estrosi won the second round with nearly 55% of the vote, thanks to the withdrawal of the left-wing list of Christophe Castaner.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election
The 2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election was held on May 8, 2015, in the city of Puerto Princesa, Philippines. City mayor Lucilo Bayron defeated former mayor Edward Hagedorn in the recall election.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Recall elections in the Philippines
Recall elections are allowed by Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines. A recall can be initiated by a petition of at least 25% of the registered voters in the local government unit (LGU) concerned. An official could only be subjected to a recall only once during one's term of office, and from one year after the official took office, up to one year before the next regularly scheduled election. For local officials elected in 2013, they can only be recalled from June 30, 2014 to May 8, 2015.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Recall elections in the Philippines
Previously, a preparatory recall assembly composed of all of the elected local officials in the LGU concerned was another method of initiating a recall election but was discontinued in 2004 through Republic Act No. 9244.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
This is not the first mayoral recall election in Puerto Princesa. In 2002, Edward Hagedorn, who was term limited in the 2001 election, defeated Victorino Dennis Socrates, the mayor that replaced him. Hagedorn was term limited anew in the 2013 election. He ran for the Senate but lost. Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Lucilo Bayron was elected mayor over Hagedorn's wife and his sister-in-law in the city elections held in the same date.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
On March 17, 2014, a recall petition was filed at the Commission on Elections office in Puerto Princesa. The petition cited a "'breach of trust,' declining tourism activities and a deteriorating peace and order situation" as the reasons for the recall. The petition was led by Muslim leader Al Babao and political lobbyist Joey Mirasol, both known supporters of Hagedorn. Bayron denied that the city's tourism was in decline, nor was there increasing criminal activity, and accused of Hagedorn of being behind the recall petition, saying that "They cannot accept that they lost in the last elections".


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
A month later, the commission approved the petition, but deferred the verification of signatures due to lack of funds. The petition had 40,409 signatures, which was more than twice of the 19,335 that was needed. By May 2014, chairman Sixto Brillantes was considering two options on funding the recall election: either asking the Department of Budget and Management to realign their savings for the conduct of the recall election, or ask Congress for a supplemental budget. Aside from the Puerto Princesa recall, several other petitions were put on hold due to funding problems.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
The petitioners went to the Supreme Court to force the commission to verify the signatures. On November 25, 2014, the court, via a unanimous decision, ordered the commission to conduct the election. The Supreme Court noted that there is an existing appropriation from the 2014 budget for funding of recall elections, giving the committee chairman the "authority to augment such line item appropriation from the Comelec’s existing savings".


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
Mayor Bayron then sought to stop the proceedings by filing a petition to the Supreme Court. Bayron questioned if the one-year limitation should be counted from the filing of the petition or from the conduct of the recall election itself. The court dismissed Bayron's petition on February 16, 2015, and ordered the commission to proceed with the recall election. A month later, the commission ordered an investigation on Bayron's alleged disruption of the recall proceedings against him.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
Bayron, on the verification of the signatures on February 28 at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum, confronted election officer Mon Garduce, ordering him to stop the proceedings. Alborn Goh, who filed the request for the investigation, said that Bayron snatched the copy of the commission's resolution from Garduce, and tore it down. Goh said that "It is to our total dismay that the police assigned to guard the proceedings did not lift a finger to stop and arrest Bayron, his bodyguards and goons, for violations of penal, election and anti-graft laws."


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Background
Later that month, the commission announced that it had affirmed 22,326 signatures as valid, and that it dismissed the appeal from Bayron saying that the validation surpassed the nine-day limit as set by an earlier resolution by the commission, and that there were more invalid signatures than the commission's findings. According to the commission, out of a total of 32,418 signatures, 10,092 were invalidated, including 6,679 signatures from people who were not in the voters' list and 3,203 multiple entries. Furthermore, Bayron failed to issue his objections on other signatures during the validation process. On April 12, Bayron supporters filed a plunder complaint against Hagedorn, for alleged cash disbursements made by the city to Hagedorn totaling 65.7 million pesos between 2008 and 2010 when Hagedorn was in office. Hagedorn responded that the case is "nothing but a scrap of political harassment."


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Campaign
Due to the recall election, voter registration for the 2016 general election was suspended in Puerto Princesa from April 20 to May 17, 2015, as the Voters' Registration Act prohibits voter registration prior to a recall election. Candidacies were submitted from April 21 to 22, while the campaign period would be from April 23 to May 6, and the election itself would be on May 8.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Campaign
On the first day of filing for candidacies, Hagedorn filed his certificate of candidacy. Election officer Orlando Baalan was looking into the possibility of asking the Philippine National Police to increase its presence in the city due to the election.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Campaign
After the filing of candidacies was over, 45 people registered their intention to run; Bayron, as the incumbent, was automatically a candidate in the recall election. By May 5, six candidates backed out, leaving 37 candidates remaining; meanwhile President Benigno Aquino III declared election day as a holiday in Puerto Princesa.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Campaign
A day later, further withdrawals reduced the total to 22 candidates. Several of the candidates who withdrew had surnames starting in letters C, D and F, and had allegedly been bribed to register in order to bring down Hagedorn's name on the ballot. The ballot, which is alphabetical order, has Bayron's name listed first.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Campaign
A group of thirteen candidates who withdrew alleged that they were unknowingly duped into running by signing some documents from a supposed pro-poor organization, and were paid 500 pesos as transport fare, only to find out later via the radio that they were candidates in the election, and that they could face incarceration. The candidates who withdrew also included people who were too young to run for mayor. Meanwhile, another 17 candidates were disqualified for not being residents of Puerto Princesa.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Campaign
On election day, there were 29 candidates left, with Bayron of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and Hagedorn of the Liberal Party as the frontrunners. Election commissioners Christian Robert Lim and Arthur Lim supervised the conduct of the elections, which went by without untoward incidents. Up to election day, there were no untoward incidents, despite text messages circulating in the city that tell of "casualties" among the candidates; the commission said there were no confirmation of such events, and that no violence was recorded.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
The election started on 7:00 a.m. and ended 3:00 p.m. Manual counting of votes proceeded immediately at the polling precincts. Region IV Election Director Juanito Icarod said that the proclamation of candidates could either happen on election night or the day after, depending on what happens at the counting stage, such as protests or objections. A combined force of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Marines kept the peace on election day.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
After he voted, Bayron urged Congress to amend the recall elections law, citing the recall election as a "disturbance". He cited the low threshold of getting valid signatures as the culprit. He also denied that the election is a "proxy war" between UNA and the Liberal Party, saying that UNA didn't give him support; he noted the local nature of the election, calling it like as a "Pacquiao-Mayweather battle royale".


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections earlier noted the allegations of disenfranchisement and vote-buying during the election. While the commission said that those who were not in the voters list were either most likely had their registration deactivated for failing to vote in two consecutive elections, or were not registered in the first place, they will look into the allegations of vote-buying. Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said that they had no power to arrest those who were openly buying and selling votes without an arrest warrant.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
After the counts were finished at the polling precincts, the ballot boxes containing the results were transported to the Victoriano J. Rodriguez Multi-Purpose Hall at the provincial capitol shortly before 6:00 p.m. However, tabulation there did not start until after two hours later when other ballot boxes arrived from the outlying barangays. The tabulation was headed by Batangas provincial election supervisor Gloria G. Ramos-Petallo. Hagedorn supporters camped outside of the provincial capitol, protesting the suspected tampered ballot boxes and other irregularities. Hours later, Petallo was heard by observers that Hagedorn filed a petition stopping the proclamation.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
However, there was no evidence given on the supposed questionable election returns. By 9:30 p.m., a commotion broke out outside the tabulation area when teachers, who were also election officers, complained that they were tired already. On 6:30 a.m. the next day, Petallo denied Hagedorn's petition. After ten hours, the commission proclaimed Bayron as the winner. Bayron said that he was open with reconciling with Hagedorn. Hagedorn, on the other hand, did not immediately issue a statement; his campaign manager, Nardz Villafranca, said that "We've seen the worst. Vote buying was rampant and visible." Villafranca later said that they would no longer challenge the result after being denied.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
After his proclamation, Bayron expressed confidence on his chances, saying that "I knew I was going to win. I was even expecting a wider margin." Bayron lambasted the new city police chief who was installed at the height of the campaign, despite the mayor's protests. Bayron accused him of partisanship. Bayron won narrowly at the barangays at the city proper, while he managed to win in some of the outlying barangays, which was widely considered to be Hagedorn's stronghold.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Results
Only Bayron and Hagedorn received votes among the 29 candidates.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Reactions
The election itself was seen by political strategist Malou Tiquia as a proxy war between the Liberal Party and the United Nationalist Alliance for the 2016 general election. Meanwhile, political analyst and University of Santo Tomas professor Edmund Tayao sees that Hagedorn's support for a presidential candidate would be "a plus," but not as considerable like the more populated areas such as Metro Manila, Pangasinan, Bulacan and Cebu.


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Reactions
Election watchdogs were generally satisfied with the conduct of the election. In a statement, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) said that


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, Reactions
The canvassing went very well. It took ten hours. Delay was due to a lot of petitions for exclusion by the lawyers of the two main candidates in the recall. Petitions were primarily based on missing inner paper seal, missing statistical data, missing thumbmarks and allegations of fraud, tampering of the ERs (election returns).


2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election, 2016 local election
Regularly scheduled elections for all elected posts in the Philippines above the barangay level were held on May 9, 2016. Bayron successfully defended his mayoral post on that election against Hagedorn, and won by an even larger margin. Bayron will serve until 2019, while Hagedorn said that he will leave town and retire from politics.


2015 Puerto Rico Soccer League season
The 2015 Puerto Rico Soccer League season did not take place in 2015. Teams then participated in the 2nd Excellence Cup, which was established in its place for the season.


2015 Pulitzer Prize
The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2014 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced on April 20, 2015.


2015 Punta del Este ePrix
The 2015 Punta del Este ePrix (officially the 2015 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix) was a Formula E motor race held on 19 December 2015 at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was the second Punta del Este ePrix and the third championship race of the 2015–16 Formula E season, the second season of the single-seater, electrically powered racing car series. The race was won by Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi from team Renault e.Dams.


2015 Punta del Este ePrix, Report, Background
For this year, the circuit was slightly modified. The first corner was changed, instead of a right-left chicane it is now left-right. The idea behind this change is to make the pit exit much safer than last year, where the cars were exiting the pits on the racing line.


2015 Punta del Este ePrix, Report, Background
Mahindra driver Nick Heidfeld missed the event, after undergoing surgery to repair ligament damage in his wrist after a crash at the previous race in Putrajaya. He was replaced by Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland, from Great Britain.


2015 Punta del Este ePrix, Report, Background
Team Trulli withdrew from the championship after failing to enter their new drivetrain for the first two events. Therefore, only 18 drivers participated in this race and also for the rest of the season.


2015 Punta del Este ePrix, Report, Background
Venturi driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed in qualifying. His team was unable to repair the damage in time for race day, and the Canadian was subsequently withdrawn.


2015 Purbeck District Council election
The 2015 Purbeck District Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Purbeck District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team
The 2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Boilermakers competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. The team was led by head coach Darrell Hazell, who was in his third season at Purdue.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Purdue finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in Big Ten play, to finish in last place in the West Division.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Preseason
In 2014, Purdue compiled a 3–9 record, 1–7 in Big Ten play, to finish in last place in the West Division. As a result of their poor record, Purdue was not bowl eligible for the second consecutive year. Their only conference win came against Illinois. The 2014 season marked the first time since 1993 that Purdue finished with the worst record in the Big Ten in back-to-back seasons.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Preseason
On January 20, 2015, wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman left the program for the same position at Pittsburgh. As a result, Purdue hired Terry Malone to be the news tight ends coach, moving former tight ends coach Gerad Parker to wide receivers coach.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Schedule
Purdue announced their 2015 football schedule on June 3, 2013. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Boilermakers will host Big Ten foes Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Nebraska and will travel to Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Schedule
The Boilermakers hosted three of their four non conference games against Bowling Green, Indiana State and Virginia Tech. Purdue traveled to Huntington, West Virginia to face Marshall of the Conference USA on September 6.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Schedule
Originally Purdue had Notre Dame scheduled instead of Virginia Tech, but due to scheduling conflicts the Hokies were scheduled instead of the Fighting Irish.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Radio
Radio coverage for all games was broadcast statewide on The Purdue Sports Network and on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. The radio announcers were Tim Newton with play-by-play, Pete Quinn with color commentary, and Kelly Kitchel with sideline reports.


2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Game summaries, at Marshall
To open the season, Purdue faced the Marshall Thundering Herd.


2015 Pure Michigan 400
The 2015 Pure Michigan 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on August 16, 2015, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the 2 mile (3.2 km) D –shaped oval, it was the 23rd race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Matt Kenseth won the race, his third of the season. Kevin Harvick finished second. Martin Truex, Jr. finished third. Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.


2015 Pure Michigan 400
Kenseth won the pole for the race and led 146 laps on his way to victory lane. There were 16 lead changes among eight different drivers as well as eight caution flag periods for 31 laps.


2015 Pure Michigan 400
This was the 34th career victory for Matt Kenseth, third of the season, third at Michigan International Speedway and eighth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Michigan trailing Chevrolet by 70–points in the manufacturer standings. However, they usurped second in the standings from Ford.


2015 Pure Michigan 400
The Pure Michigan 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Report, Background
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km2)  approximately four-mile (6.4 km) south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Report, Background
Kevin Harvick entered Michigan with a 42–point lead over Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. entered 73 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 76 back. Brad Keselowski entered 104 back.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Report, Background, Aero package
For the weekend's race, NASCAR used the same high–drag package that was used at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One change from the Indy package included an additional air duct mandated on the right–side window of the car. Previously, this was an option left up to the teams. What led NASCAR to mandating this was the excessive heat buildup in the cars caused by the high–downforce package.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Report, Background, Aero package
"I would not be surprised to see a lot of car failures this weekend, specific to heat relation as it pertains to the aero package and its kind of cause and effects," Brad Keselowski said during a teleconference Tuesday. "And inside the car I would not be surprised to see a lot of hot and worn out drivers after the race. We all know we’re in for a handful of the race."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Report, Background, Entry list
The entry list for the Pure Michigan 400 was released on Monday, August 10 at 10:31 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford were entered in the previous week's race at Watkins Glen. The four driver changes for this race were Josh Wise returning to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, Travis Kvapil driving the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet, Brett Moffitt returning to the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford and Reed Sorenson returning to the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, First practice
Carl Edwards was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 36.726 and a speed of 196.046 mph (315.505 km/h).


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Qualifying
Matt Kenseth won the pole with a time of 36.458 and a speed of 197.488 mph (317.826 km/h). "We’ve had a fast racecar here this weekend," said Kenseth. "Hopefully, we can work on it in practice and get it ready to race. Having the No. 1 starting spot is great." "We aren’t first so we aren’t satisfied," said Joey Logano. "Qualifying here is very interesting. I had my hands full, I can tell you that much.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Qualifying
I was sawing away at it but we'll be close enough to the front to get a good pit stall, so the guys have that going for them. We'll go to work on dialing it in some more during practice." "Tomorrow (Saturday), we'll run more around other cars and learn more about what the (aero) package is going to be like for the race," Jeff Gordon said of the new rules package. "We won’t truly know until they drop the green and there are 43 cars going into Turn 1."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Second practice
Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 36.964 and a speed of 194.784 mph (313.474 km/h).


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Final practice
Martin Truex, Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 37.553 and a speed of 191.729 mph (308.558 km/h). In the first five minutes of the session, Kyle Busch's car got loose exiting turn 4, slid down through the grass and destroyed the splitter. This forced the No. 18 team to roll out his backup car. As a result, he started the race from the rear of the field. “I was just running along, everything was fine and I was actually feeling pretty good about it,” Busch said.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Final practice
“Just started to get a little free up off of (turn) four. It started stepping out like it did here in the spring. I over-corrected and hit the wall so this time around I just kind of made it keep rotating and head down towards the infield. I think we need more grass at these race tracks, I think the apron should be full of grass.” In the final few minutes of the session, Austin Dillon reported that his engine had "No RPM's" and was forced to change engines. As a result, he too started the race from the rear of the field.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Start
Just as the field began rolling off pit road, Timmy Hill blew his engine and went to the garage before the green flag flew.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Start
The race was scheduled to start at 2:46 p.m., but started nine minutes later when Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag. The first caution of the race flew the same lap when David Ragan got sideways and spun through the infield grass while heading into turn 1.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Start
The race restarted on lap 6. The second caution of the race flew on lap 10 for debris in turn 3. The debris was an oil pan that came off Hill's car, which recently returned to the race.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Start
The race restarted on lap 14. The third caution of the race flew on lap 21 as a scheduled competition caution. Austin Dillon opted not to pit and assumed the lead. Kasey Kahne was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted from the tail-end of the field.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Start
The race restarted on lap 25. Dillon surrendered the lead to pit on lap 41 and handed it back to Kenseth. Jimmie Johnson made an unscheduled stop on lap 49 for a flat right-rear tire. He rejoined the race in 42nd two laps down. Casey Mears hit pit road on lap 54 after his engine gave way. Kenseth ducked onto pit road on lap 59 and handed the lead to Kyle Larson, who pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. He hit pit road the next time by and gave the lead to Kyle Busch. Busch pitted the next lap and gave the lead back to Kenseth. Michael Annett was tagged for having his pit crew over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The fourth caution of the race came out on lap 72 for debris in turn 2.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 77. Matt Kenseth hit pit road on lap 99 and handed the lead to Kevin Harvick.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
Harvick ran out of gas on lap 114 on his way to pit road. Carl Edwards assumed the lead. He pitted on lap 116 and handed the lead to Kenseth. Debris in turn 1 brought out the fifth caution of the race on lap 121. Edwards opted not to pit and assumed the lead.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 126. Edwards botched the restart and teammate Kenseth shot past Austin Dillon to retake the lead. The sixth caution of the race flew when Clint Bowyer got turned into the wall while exiting turn 2, came down across the nose of Ryan Newman, slid down the track and rear-ended the inside wall on the backstretch. "Man, I'm sorry guys," Bowyer radioed to his team. "I couldn't save it. Good track for us."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 131. The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 136 when Tony Stewart got loose and spun down onto pit road and Ryan Blaney, trying to avoid hitting him, made contact with the wall. Edwards had an engine misfire under the caution and fell from second to 12th.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 59 laps to go. A number of cars began hitting pit road to make their final stop with 38 laps to go. Kenseth gave up the lead to pit with 36 laps to go and handed it to Busch. He pitted with 28 laps to go and handed the lead to Aric Almirola. He pitted with 25 laps to go and the lead cycled back to Kenseth.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The eighth caution of the race flew with 17 laps to go when Johnson got loose in turn 3 and damaged his car's splitter.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 13 laps to go and Matt Kenseth drove off to score his 34th career victory.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
"We've had a great couple months," said Kenseth. "We definitely have momentum. The guys gave us a rocket today. We're going to work hard to keep it rolling."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
“We just fought a lot of things today,” Harvick said. “Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet for fighting back today. We had some handling issues at the beginning of the race and then they were able to really make the car handle a lot better and then we overcame the running out of gas there and we were able to put ourselves back in position up in the front. The No. 20 (Kenseth) was the class of the field today, but everybody on our Jimmy John’s team did a great job.”


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
“Yeah, we had some circumstances where we had to start at the back and had to figure out a way to get our track position back, and just got to thank my guys,” said Austin Dillon after scoring his best career finish of fourth. "(Crew chief) Slugger Labbe and the engineers did a good job coming up with a plan.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
That first 20 laps was no fun for us because we had to ride around and try and stay in front of the leader, but we saved gas and decided to not come down on that first competition caution for fuel, and it worked out. It showed that our car was fast enough to stay up there, pitted, drove back up to where we needed to be, and man, it was a fun day for us, the Dow car was fast, and I felt like I passed a lot of cars, also, getting into fourth.”


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
“We passed a lot of cars, we just couldn’t ever get that track position to fight for the win,” Martin Truex, Jr. told NBCSN after the race. “We felt like we were maybe as good as the No. 20 (winner, Matt Kenseth), close at least, and it would have been nice to see if we could have fought it out with him.”


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Motor Racing Network lead writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Pete Pistone giving his thoughts on the new aero package.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the high-downforce package used for this race. Pete Pistone, lead writer for MRN.com and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, said that he continued "to applaud NASCAR for trying rule packages in an effort to improve the competition" but that "it’s apparent the high drag package used at Indianapolis and Michigan is not the right direction."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Jerry Jordan of Frontstretch.com said that "it didn’t seem to produce the desired results at Michigan International Speedway" but that he did "applaud NASCAR for trying something new and wanting to make the racing better – and safer – on the track."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Jim Utter of Motorsport.com was less kind in his opinion of the rules package in saying that it "was a complete failure at its debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month and again in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway" and that "restarts were the only thing that created any drama in either race."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Monte Dutton of Bleacher Report stated that "NASCAR’s rules geniuses botched the package used in the Pure Michigan 400."


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Media, Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled pit road on the television side.


2015 Pure Michigan 400, Media, Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and five–time Michigan winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kurt Becker called the race from a platform outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Pete Pistone worked pit road for MRN.


2015 Pusamania Borneo season
The 2015 Pusamania Borneo season was the 2nd season in the club's football history and their 1st season in the Indonesia Super League, the top-flight division in Indonesia.


2015 Pusamania Borneo season, Review and events, Pre–2015
They signed Hamka Hamzah as their first signing for the season on November 12, 2014. On December 7, 2014, Arcan Iurie was appointed as the new head coach replacing Iwan Setiawan and Fernando Gaston Soler was appointed as coach assistant. The team will have a one-week training camp in Samboja, starting December 23, 2014. Salvo will supply the kit for the squad for this season replacing Town.


2015 Pusamania Borneo season, Review and events, Pre–2015
The 2015 Indonesia Super League was officially discontinued by PSSI on May 2, 2015 due to a ban by Imam Nahrawi, Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs, against PSSI to run any football competition.


2015 Puskás Cup
The 2015 Puskás Cup was the eighth edition of the Puskás Cup and took place between 3 April to 6 April in Felcsút, Hungary. La Fábrica were the defending champions. One new team, Feyenoord Academy, were invited by the organisers for this event.


2015 Puskás Cup
On 26 March 2015, the draw took place in Felcsút, Hungary. At the drawing, former Feyenoord and Bayern Munich star Roy Makaay was also present.


2015 Puskás Cup
The 2015 Puskás Cup was won by Budapest Honvéd by beating three-time champions La Fábrica in the final on 6 April 2015 at the Pancho Arena in Felcsút. Hagi Academy finished third by beating Feyenoord Academy. The home side, Puskás Akadémia finished fifth by beating Panathinaikos 2-1.


2015 Puskás Cup, Squads, Budapest Honvéd
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Puskás Cup, Squads, La Fábrica
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Puskás Cup, Squads, Feyenoord Academy
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Puskás Cup, Squads, Hagi Academy
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Puskás Cup, Squads, Panathinaikos
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Puskás Cup, Squads, Puskás Akadémia
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Putrajaya ePrix
The 2015 Putrajaya ePrix (officially the Y Capital Management Putrajaya ePrix), was a Formula E motor race held on 7 November 2015 at the Putrajaya Street Circuit in Putrajaya, Malaysia. It was the second edition of the Putrajaya ePrix and the second championship race of the 2015–16 Formula E season. The race was won by Lucas di Grassi.


2015 Putrajaya ePrix, Report, Background
The Trulli team did not participate in Putrajaya; they already failed to participate two weeks earlier in Beijing. This time, the team presented its Motormatica JT-01 for scrutineering, but the car did not pass all of the mandatory checks.


2015 Qamishli bombings
The 2015 Qamishli bombings refer to three bombs, that detonated in three restaurants in Wusta, an Assyrian district of the Syrian-Turkish border town of Qamishli on 30 December 2015. The first reports stated, that it were suicide bombings, however the military spokesman of the Assyrian, Sootoro, in Qamishli, said, that the attacks were not suicide bombs.


2015 Qamishli bombings
A Kurdish militia spokesman said, that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was responsible for the blasts and that the bombings were targeting Christians, but Assyrian organisations claimed that the bombings were not likely a deed by ISIL, but possibly a crime by the Kurdish YPG. A total of 16 people were killed, 14 of the victims were Assyrian Christians and 2 Muslims, also 35 people were wounded.


2015 Qamishli bombings, Aftermath
In the aftermath of the 2015 Qamishli bombings that targeted Assyrian Christian restaurants, the Assyrian Sootoro defense militia set up security checkpoints around the perimeter of the al-Wusta neighborhood, a predominantly Christian district of Qamishli.


2015 Qamishli bombings, Aftermath
On 12 January, at around 12:45, a group of Kurdish YPG fighters approached a GPF manned checkpoint and demanded that the militia take down the security barriers, stating that the checkpoints bothered residents and must be removed. When this was refused, a YPG gunner opened fire from a 30. or 50. caliber machine gun mounted on a technical vehicle. A GPF fighter was struck in the head and killed instantly. During the clashes, 3 YPG fighters were killed, 2 GPF were wounded, and 3 civilians were injured in the cross-fire.


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The 2015 Qatar Open (also known as 2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 23rd edition of the Qatar Open, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2015 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar, from January 5 to 11, 2015.


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, ATP doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open – Doubles
Tomáš Berdych and Jan Hájek were the defending champions, but they decided not to participate this year. Juan Mónaco and Rafael Nadal won the title, defeating Julian Knowle and Philipp Oswald in the final, 6–3, 6–4.


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open – Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Michael Berrer.


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open – Singles
David Ferrer won the title, defeating Tomáš Berdych in the final, 6−4, 7−5.


2015 Qatar ExxonMobil Open – Singles
Novak Djokovic's loss to Ivo Karlovic in the quarterfinal, would be the Serb's only loss prior to a final in 2015.


2015 Qatar Total Open
The 2015 Qatar Total Open was a professional women's tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the 13th edition of the event and part of the WTA Premier series of the 2015 WTA Tour. It took place at the International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar from 23 February to 28 February.


2015 Qatar Total Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Qatar Total Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Qatar Total Open – Doubles
Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai were the defending champions, but Peng decided not to compete this year. Hsieh played alongside Sania Mirza, but lost in the final to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears, 4–6, 4–6.


2015 Qatar Total Open – Singles
The 2015 Qatar Total Open was a professional women's tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the 13th edition of the event and part of the WTA Premier series of the 2015 WTA Tour. It took place at the International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar from 23 February to 28 February. Lucie Šafářová won the title, defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6–4, 6–3. Simona Halep was the defending champion, but withdrew before the tournament began.


2015 Qatar Total Open – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 2015 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Losail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar on 29 March 2015.


2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
In the MotoGP class, Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso took the first pole position of the season. It was an eventful race in which the lead was contested between the Movistar Yamaha and Ducati teams. For the first time since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, the podium was swept by Italian riders, as Yamaha's Valentino Rossi – in his 20th Grand Prix season – took his first season-opening victory since 2010, ahead of Dovizioso, and his teammate Andrea Iannone, who achieved his first MotoGP podium in third place.


2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
Reigning world champion Marc Márquez had a good start position, third on the grid, but went off track and almost hit Jorge Lorenzo and Bradley Smith. After he fell to the rear of the field due to the first-lap incident, Márquez overtook several riders and was able to finish fifth, behind Lorenzo.


2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
Dani Pedrosa started second on the grid, but dropped to sixth place due to issues with arm-pump. Álvaro Bautista was forced to retire after his bike was hit by Márquez, breaking his left brake lever and front sensor. Rookie Jack Miller – graduating from Moto3 – crashed with Karel Abraham with one lap remaining.


2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
The weekend also saw the début of the new Aprilia RS-GP, which was used by Gresini Racing after the team switched from Honda at the end of 2014. This was Aprilia's first race in MotoGP as a factory team since the 2004 Valencian Grand Prix.


2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping
The 2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping set off a hostage crisis of nearly a year and a half in Iraq and involved negotiations and deals between many neighboring states. On Wednesday 16 December 2015, at about 3:00am local time, a party of 28 Qatari hunters, including members of the ruling royal House of Thani, were taken hostage in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq, in the desert area of Busaya not far from the border with Saudi Arabia. The Qataris remained in the hands of their kidnappers until 2017, when a deal in Syria and the payment of a ransom led to their release.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Background
The desert of Muthanna Governorate is a popular location for wealthy hunting parties from the Gulf nations who travel there for falconry and hunting festivals.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Hostage taking
At about 3:00am local time, on Wednesday 16 December 2015, "an armed group driving dozens of pickup trucks kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters from their camp in the area of Busaya in Samawa desert near Saudi borders", according to Samawa regional governor Falih al-Zayady.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Hostage taking
A police colonel quoted by Reuters said: "We are talking about at least 100 gunmen armed with light and medium weapons who broke into the Qatari camp and abducted the hunters at around 3 am local time on Wednesday."


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Hostage taking
The hunting party was accompanied by a small group of Iraqi security forces who surrendered in the face of the larger militant force.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Motive
It is believed the party were taken hostage by Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia supported by Iran. Their intention was to use the hostages as leverage on Qatar, which is a supporter of Sunni rebel groups in Syria such as Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham who are participating in the Siege of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya, two Shiite villages in northern Syria.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Negotiations
On 6 April 2016, two men including a member of the Qatari royal family and a Pakistani man were freed, according to the Qatari foreign ministry, who stated efforts were continuing to free those still held hostage.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Negotiations
On 11 April 2017, Associated Press reported that Khalifa bin Fahed bin Mohammed Al Thani signed a contract worth $2 million dated 8 March with a San Diego-based firm called Global Strategies Council Inc. The contract calls for the group "to obtain proof of life," speak to government agencies and "attempt to negotiate with captors for the release of captive members of the royal family of Qatar."


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Negotiations
Asked about the $2 million payment, Qatar's Government Communications Office issued a statement to the AP saying the U.S. firm was "retained by a Qatari citizen acting in a private capacity." "We consider the hostage issue in Iraq of the utmost importance and it remains our top priority," the government said. "We continue to engage in securing their safe release."


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Negotiations
On 19 April 2017, the Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi said "friendly" neighboring countries had been contacted over the case and that a Qatari official was in the country "to help in their release."


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Syrian deal
On Friday 14 April 2017, Shiite residents of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya began leaving the villages and heading to government held Aleppo in a deal finalized after nearly two years of negotiations between Ahrar al-Sham, Qatar and Iran. The Qatari hostages were offered up as a component of the swap by Iran. At the same time the first buses carrying Sunni residents began leaving Zabadani and Madaya to rebel-held areas of Idlib province as part of the deal.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Release, ransom, and Gulf row
After a deal brokered between Iran and Ahrar al-Sham for the evacuation of the four towns, the 26 remaining Qatari hostages were freed. The Iraqi interior ministry said "all 26" were in Baghdad and would be handed over to a Qatari envoy.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Release, ransom, and Gulf row
Qatar also paid a ransom to have the hunters released. According to the Financial Times Qatar paid $700 million to Iranian-backed Shi'a militias in Iraq, $120–140 million to Tahrir al-Sham, and $80 million to Ahrar al-Sham. The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that Qatar paid 500 million euros to Kataibb Hezbollah, who were believed to be the kidnappers. Angered at this funding of Iranian proxies, Iraqi PM Abadi ordered the 500 million seized and impounded at the central bank in Baghdad.


2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping, Release, ransom, and Gulf row
The ransom payment was one of the precipitating factors of the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis.


2015 Qatari municipal elections
Municipal elections in Qatar were held for the fifth time on 13 May 2015. Five women contested the polls as candidates. Two women were elected to the Central Municipal Council (CMC) after winning their constituencies, heralding the first time two women have occupied seats in the council. This round of elections witnessed the merging of a number of depopulated constituencies and the addition of several new constituencies.


2015 Qatari municipal elections
Early indications suggested that the voter turnout would be low. However, the voter turnout in various constituencies ranged from 51% to 87%, with an overall voter turnout of 70%. This was a marked increase from the 43% voter turnout in the 2011 elections. The total number of voters was 21,735. There were 109 candidates.


2015 Qatari municipal elections, Background
According to government officials, 136 candidates signed up to run. Twenty-five candidates withdrew from the elections before the onset of voting, including three candidates who withdrew on 12 May. This resulted in the contention of three constituencies (1, 27, and 28) by single candidates who were declared winners by acclamation one day prior to ballots being cast. Constituency numbers 4, 9, 21, 22, 24 and 26 were contested by two candidates each. Conversely, constituency numbers 10, 11, 13, 18, 19 and 20 were vied for by six candidates apiece.


2015 Qatari municipal elections, Background
Only 5 female candidates ran for election. This invigorated discussion on the possible establishment of a quota for female candidates.


2015 Quaker State 400
The 2015 Quaker State 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on July 11, 2015 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (4 km) speedway, it was the 18th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, his second of the season. Joey Logano finished second. Denny Hamlin finished third. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.


2015 Quaker State 400
With qualifying canceled for bad weather, Kyle Larson was awarded the first starting spot. He failed to lead a single lap and finished a disappointing 35th after cutting down a tire and crashing out late in the race. Busch led a race high of 163 laps on his way to winning the race. The race had 13 lead changes among eight different drivers, as well as a new track record of eleven caution flag periods for 49 laps.


2015 Quaker State 400
This was the 31st career victory for Kyle Busch, second at Kentucky Speedway, and third at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. This win moved Busch up to 35th in the points, 87 points behind Cole Whitt for the 30th place Chase for the Sprint Cup cutoff, and 492 behind points leader Kevin Harvick. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Kentucky trailing Chevrolet by 83 points in the manufacturer standings.


2015 Quaker State 400
The Quaker State 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN station for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background
Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Jerry Carroll, who, along with four other investors, owned Kentucky Speedway until 2008. The speedway has a grandstand capacity of 117,000.


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background
Construction of the speedway began in 1998 and was completed in mid-2000. The speedway has hosted the Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series, IndyCar Series, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series and most recently, the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2011.


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background
Kevin Harvick entered Kentucky with a 63-point lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jimmie Johnson entered 67 back, Joey Logano entered 75 back, and Martin Truex, Jr. entered 87 back.


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background, New aero package
On June 16, NASCAR announced that a new aero package would be used for this weekend's race at Kentucky Speedway. The changes included a smaller rear spoiler and other adjustments that significantly reduced aerodynamic downforce. The spoiler was 3.5 in (8.9 cm) tall. There was also a 25 in (64 cm) wide splitter extension. In addition, tires supplied by Goodyear provided drivers with more grip. "We want to see more lead changes on the racetrack," NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said in a media teleconference.


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background, New aero package
"We'll evaluate that and a number of different factors coming out of Kentucky, see what we can learn and implement down the road." Originally, the package was to be used at this year's All-Star Race, but the plan was scrubbed and NASCAR opted to use the package for a points race. "Let me be clear. This is not a test, this is a race," O'Donnell said of the rules package that was in effect for the 18th round of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series. "We've had an extensive testing plan with the industry over the last 18 months. We wouldn't implement this if we didn't feel confident as an industry to implement it at Kentucky."


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background, Tire allotment
For this weekend's race, teams were given nine sets of Goodyear tires versus the normal allotment of eleven.


2015 Quaker State 400, Report, Background, Entry list
The entry list for the Quaker State 400 was released on Monday, July 6 at 2:19 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-six drivers were entered for the race. All but the No. 30 Chevrolet of The Motorsports Group were entered for the previous week's Coke Zero 400. The three driver changes for this week were Will Kimmel in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, Alex Kennedy in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet, and Reed Sorenson in the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.


2015 Quaker State 400, First practice
Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.583 and a speed of 182.537 mph (293.765 km/h).


2015 Quaker State 400, Qualifying
NASCAR Executive Vice-President Steve O'Donnell speaking on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.


2015 Quaker State 400, Qualifying
Three rounds of knockout qualifying were to take place at 5:45 p.m., but the threat of rain forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying. The field was set by first practice speeds. As a result, Kyle Larson earned the first starting spot. "I was glad we got a little track time there," Larson said. "I was quick off of the truck, which I was proud of the team for...I was able to lay down a real fast lap, went back to race trim and was fast there, too."


2015 Quaker State 400, Qualifying
Along with Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team failed to qualify for the second week in a row. "We've gone a long time and not missed a race with weather," said co-owner Eddie Wood. "Now, the numbers seem to be leveling out. If you're slow and you miss a race because you're not fast enough, it's a bad deal. That kills your soul, but you can't do anything about the weather. We're gonna run next week at Loudon (N.H.), so we'll head up that way and hope we don't get rained out. I'm going to stop looking at weather apps, I can tell you that."


2015 Quaker State 400, Qualifying
In his weekly appearance on the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio program The Morning Drive the Monday after the race, NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Officer Steve O'Donnell explained to Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone NASCAR's decision to cancel qualifying despite the final practice session being held at the time qualifying was scheduled to be held. He told them that NASCAR "could probably have done a better job of explaining it."


2015 Quaker State 400, Final practice
Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.267 and a speed of 178.412 mph (287.126 km/h).


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, First half, Start
The race was scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. EDT but started two minutes later when Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag. He lost the lead to Brad Keselowski, who would lead the first lap. This would drop him to third place. The first caution of the race flew on lap 19 when J. J. Yeley, running on the outside, got loose and made contact with Josh Wise in turn 3, sending him into the wall. None of the leaders would pit under this caution, as they all stayed out.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, First half, Start
The race restarted on lap 24. The second caution of the race flew on lap 31 as a scheduled competition caution. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead after taking both right-side tires while Keselowski took four.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, First half, Start
The race restarted on lap 36. After 26 laps, Keselowski, who restarted in eleventh, drove his way up to second. Denny Hamlin was running eighth when he made an unscheduled stop on lap 72. The reason for this was a flat right-front tire. To add insult to injury, he was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. He rejoined the race in 40th two laps down. Debris in turn 4 brought out the third caution of the race on lap 80.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 89. Keselowski put pressure on Kyle Busch on lap 93. Busch just edged him out for the lead by eight one-thousandths of a second. Finally, Keselowski passed him in turn 3 and took back the lead on lap 96. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 99 for a single car spin on the front stretch. Exiting turn 4, Kurt Busch got loose and spun down the track, through the grass, and came to a stop a few yards from the start/finish line.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 105. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 122 for a single car wreck in turn 4. Riding the high line, Yeley made contact with the wall. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead after taking right-side tires. Keselowski exited tenth after about hitting one of his tire carriers who tripped carrying one of his old tires.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 129. Justin Allgaier was tagged for passing before crossing the start/finish line and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. The sixth caution of the race flew for a single car wreck in turn 3. Going into the turn, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. blew out his left-front tire and rode the wall through 3 and 4.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 141. The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 143 for a three car wreck in turn 2. While trying to avoid Tony Stewart going into turn 1, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. got loose, tapped Jeb Burton, and sent him spinning. Stenhouse also made contact with the wall.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 147. Debris in turn 4 brought out the eighth caution of the race. Keselowski gave up second to pit under caution.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 157. Debris in turn 2 brought out the ninth caution of the race on lap 187. Ryan Newman opted not to put under the caution and assumed the lead. Keselowski lost time on pit road following a malfunction with one of his crew's airguns. "Yeah. It's easy to play the Saturday evening quarterback, but it just didn't come together for us," Keselowski said. "There are certainly some things I could have done better and we didn't have the best day on pit road. It's something to build off of, but I thought Kyle and I both had pretty good cars and we just didn't put it all together when it counted. We'll keep working on it."


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 192. On old tires, Newman stood little chance and lost the lead to Kyle Busch on lap 193. The tenth caution of the race flew with 61 laps to go for a single car spin in turn 3. Going into 3, Earnhardt, Jr. bumped into the rear of Danica Patrick and sent her into the wall. She retaliated by cursing him on the radio and ramming him on pit road. He was perplexed at the situation. "I mean, what am I supposed to say other than the truth?" Earnhardt said.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
"We didn't have any brakes going into the corner. I know better than to run into her because it gets so much attention. There wasn't nothing I could do. I mean, as hard as I hit her, what the hell did she think I was doing? Trying to wreck her? We ain't got no problem. It's not like we were having a problem out on the racetrack with her. It's not like I just drew her name out of a hat and decided she was the one I was going to run into tonight." Denny Hamlin exited pit road with the lead.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 55 laps to go. Carl Edwards went three wide underneath his teammate to take the lead with 54 laps to go. He got loose in turn 1 and Hamlin took back the lead with 53 laps to go. Kyle Larson made an unscheduled stop for a tire rub with 51 laps to go. Kyle Busch took back the lead with 50 laps to go. The left-rear tire rub on Kyle Larson's car wasn't fixed. It went flat and sent the car into the wall in turn 1. This brought out the eleventh caution of the race with 48 laps to go. This also set a new track record for cautions in a Sprint Cup Series race.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 43 laps to go. Joey Logano shot past Hamlin on the restart and took the lead with 42 laps to go. After stalking and swapping positions for a few laps, Kyle Busch finally took the lead back from Logano with 18 laps to go. He drove away from Logano to score his 31st career victory.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
"That right there is what we've got to do," Busch said. "Just to score as many points as we possibly can. To score those wins, that's what's going to get us to where we need to be. We led the most laps and we won the race, so that's all you can score. We'll just continue to push on and thrive." "Second just hurts, you know?" Logano said. "When you're that close to winning them, but we're still proud of what we did today. We had a fast car, we've improved our speed."


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
A number of drivers gave their thoughts on the success of the aero package. "They're close. The tire definitely could be a little softer. I wore one out just grinding on it, abusing it too much," said Denny Hamlin, who rallied from two laps down to finish third. "That's on me, but when you abuse a tire, you should not get rewarded for it. We've made our tires so dummy-proof over the last 10 years that anyone can just abuse them and abuse them with no consequence. I abused mine and I wore it out. That's what racing's all about.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
The drivers, our hands are uncuffed with this package. We're able to manhandle the cars and really be aggressive with it." Jeff Gordon, following his seventh-place finish in his final start at Kentucky Speedway, said that the tires aren't soft enough. "This is not the right tire," Gordon said. "It is still way too hard. It doesn't have near enough grip at the beginning of a run. It doesn't really fall off. The only way you can make a low-downforce package work is to have the proper tire on there.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
I'm glad we tried it, did a little more work, I'm looking forward to trying it again." "When the sun was out early when everybody's cars weren't dialed in yet, I mean that's the best racing we've had for a while, in my opinion," Carl Edwards said after finishing fourth. "It was when I started in this 10 or 12 years ago and it was really, really fun.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Towards the end of the night, everybody got their cars working, the speeds picked up a little bit and you still got some of that spread-out, really hard to pass, but I'm telling you, this is the way we need to go. You let Goodyear, give them some time to build a tire for this, cut about half that spoiler off again, you're going to have some awesome racing."


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Media reaction
Motor Racing Network lead writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Pete Pistone giving his thoughts on the new aero package.


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Media reaction
Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the first race with the new aero package. Pete Pistone, lead writer for the Motor Racing Network and co-host of the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio weekday program The Morning Drive, described the package as having "provided plenty of reason for optimism," that he saw "more passing for position mid-pack," and that the battle for the win between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano "was as entertaining as anything seen all year."


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Media reaction
Jeff Gluck of USA Today said that "by every measurable category – including the eye test – the debut of NASCAR's low downforce rules package Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway was a whopping success," and that the package "sure kicked ass..."


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Media reaction
Lee Spencer of Motorsport.com said that "while it's too early to grade the new low downforce Sprint Cup package, Saturday night's Quaker State 400 was one of the best shows NASCAR has put on at an intermediate track in a long, long time."


2015 Quaker State 400, Race, Post-race, Media reaction
Nate Ryan of NBC Sports described it as "the best Sprint Cup race of a 2015 season lacking for the sort of indelible moments that ran on a continuous loop Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway," and that "there was enough compelling evidence for a strong case the package should get another shot beyond the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway."


2015 Quaker State 400, Media, Television
NBC Sports had the television call for the race. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider, and Kelli Stavast handled pit road for the television side.