2015 Quaker State 400, Media, Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow, and Wendy Venturini called the race from the booth when the field went racing through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard outside turn 1 when the field went racing through turns 1 & 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside turn 4 when the field went racing through turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble, and Steve Richards worked pit road for the radio side.


2015 Quebec Men's Provincial Curling Championship
The 2015 Quebec Men's Provincial Curling Championship, also known as the Quebec Tankard, was held  from January 12 to 18 at the Complexe Sportif Sani Marc in Victoriaville, Quebec. The winning team represented Quebec at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary, Alberta. The event was held in conjunction with the 2015 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts.


2015 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The 2015 Quebec Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the provincial women's curling championship of Quebec, were held from January 12 to 18 at Complexe Sportif Sani Marc in Victoriaville, Quebec. The Lauren Mann rink from Montreal won the event and represented Quebec at the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The event was held in conjunction with the 2015 Quebec Men's Provincial Curling Championship.


2015 Queen Mother Champion Chase
The 2015 Queen Mother Champion Chase (known as the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase for sponsorship reasons) was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Wednesday 11 March 2015. It was the 56th annual running of the Queen Mother Champion Chase.


2015 Queen Mother Champion Chase, Build up
Three of the previous four winners of this race were competing in the 2015 race. They were reigning champion Sire de Grugy, 2013 winner Sprinter Sacre, who missed the 2014 race due to an irregular heartbeat, and 2011 winner Sizing Europe.


2015 Queen Mother Champion Chase, The race
Special Tiara made most of the running with Dodging Bullets always looking comfortable with the pace just behind the leader. Dodging Bullets took the lead at the last fence. Somersby challenged strongly near the end to finish second with Special Tiara finishing third. Sprinter Sacre, who looked in contention with three fences to jump, was pulled up just before the last fence.


2015 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia)
The Queen's Birthday Honours 2015 for Australia were announced on 8 June 2015 by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove.


2015 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia)
The Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Official Birthday celebrations during the month of June.


2015 Queensland Basketball League season
The 2015 Men's Queensland Basketball League season was the 30th running of the competition. The Mackay Meteors won the championship in 2015 to claim their third league title.


2015 Queensland Basketball League season
The teams for this season were: Brisbane Capitals, Bundaberg Bulls, Cairns Marlins, Gladstone Port City Power, Gold Coast Rollers, Ipswich Force, Logan Thunder, Mackay Meteors, Northside Wizards, Rockhampton Rockets, South West Metro Pirates, Suncoast Clippers, Toowoomba Mountaineers and Townsville Heat.


2015 Queensland Basketball League season, Standings
*Every team competed in 17 regular season games over 15 rounds except for the Townsville Heat and Suncoast Clippers. The Round 1 match-up between the two sides was abandoned after the referees couldn't make it to the game due to poor weather in the Maroochydore area.


2015 Queensland Basketball League season, Standings, Finals
*The team that finishes 1st overall goes straight through to the semi-finals.


2015 Queensland Basketball League season, Standings, Finals
* *The top two teams from each pool face-off in the quarter-finals.


2015 Queensland Cup
The 2015 Queensland Cup season was the 20th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Intrust Super Cup due to sponsorship from Intrust Super, featured 14 teams playing a 29-week long season (including finals) from March to September.


2015 Queensland Cup
The Ipswich Jets won their first premiership after defeating the Townsville Blackhawks 32–20 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium. Wynnum Manly Seagulls' five-eighth Patrick Templeman was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.


2015 Queensland Cup, Teams
In 2015, the competition expanded to the 14 teams with the inclusion of the Townsville Blackhawks. Townsville had previously been represented in the competition by the North Queensland Young Guns and Townsville Stingers.


2015 Queensland Cup, Teams
The Canberra Raiders ended their affiliation with the Souths Logan Magpies, who partnered with the Brisbane Broncos. After four seasons without an NRL affiliate, the Sunshine Coast Falcons formed a partnership with the Melbourne Storm.


2015 Queensland Cup, Final series
The Queensland Cup reverted to a six-team finals format in 2015.


2015 Queensland Cup, Grand Final
Townsville took out the minor premiership in their debut season, losing just three games (one of those to Ipswich). They qualified for their first Grand Final after defeating the PNG Hunters 26–12 in the major semi final. Ipswich, who finished the regular season in 3rd, defeated the Northern Pride 54–26 in the first elimination final. In the minor semi final, they defeated Easts and then upset the Hunters a week later to qualify for their third Grand Final.


2015 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, First half
Townsville got off to a great start, scoring in the 2nd minute of the game through centre Tom Humble. Ipswich scored their first try in the 19th minute in spectacular fashion, when winger Marmin Barba ran 70 metres before finding his halfback Dane Phillips who scored. The Jets grabbed their second just minutes later when Townsville fullback Jahrome Hughes threw a wayward pass as he was being dragged over the sideline, that was dived on by Barba in the in-goal. Townsville hit back in the 29th minute when winger Zac Santo scored in the right corner. With a minute remaining in the half, Jets' fullback Carlin Anderson sliced through the Blackhawks defence off a scrum to give his side a 10-point lead.


2015 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, Second half
It took just a minute before the Jets had their fourth try of the game, when captain Keiron Lander latched onto a Phillips grubber. Three minutes later they recorded their fifth try when centre Nemani Valekapa scored in the corner. The Blackhawks finally stemmed the flow of points in the 50th minute when Hughes crossed the try line. An Ipswich penalty goal from right in front extended their lead to 12 with 20 minutes to play. Townsville gave themselves a chance late when Robert Lui grubbered for himself to score in the 73rd minute to see his side trail by just six. A tense final seven minutes followed but Ipswich held on and sealed the win with an 80th minute try to hooker Matt Parcell.


2015 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, Second half
The premiership was the first ever for the Jets, who had gone 30 seasons without success dating back to the Brisbane Rugby League competition. Ipswich second-rower Billy McConnachie was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal for the man of the match.


2015 Queensland Cup, Grand Final, NRL State Championship
After winning the Grand Final, the Ipswich Jets qualified for the NRL State Championship on NRL Grand Final day. They defeated the Newcastle Knights, the New South Wales Cup premiers, 26–12.


2015 Queensland Cup, Player statistics
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of the season (including finals).


2015 Queensland Firebirds season
The 2015 Queensland Firebirds season saw the Queensland Firebirds netball team compete in the 2015 ANZ Championship. With a team coached by Roselee Jencke, captained by Laura Geitz and featuring Romelda Aiken, Clare McMeniman and Kim Ravaillion, Firebirds won the Australian Conference, the Challenge Trophy, the minor premiership and the overall championship. Firebirds narrowly defeated New South Wales Swifts in both the Australian Conference final and the Grand Final on their way to effectively winning four titles.


2015 Queensland Firebirds season, Players, Gold medallists
Rebecca Bulley, Laura Geitz and Kim Ravaillion were all members of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 2015 Netball World Cup. Geitz also captained Australia during the tournament.


2015 Queensland Firebirds season, Summer Shootout
Between 6 and 8 February, Netball New South Wales hosted the Summer Shootout at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. All ten ANZ Championship teams participated in the three-day tournament. A total of 25 games, consisting of both full length and shortened games consisting of two 15-minute periods, were played over the weekend. Firebirds finished the weekend with four wins and one defeat.


2015 Queensland Firebirds season, Regular season, Challenge Trophy
The 2015 season saw the introduction of the Ranfurly Shield-style, Challenge Trophy. The trophy was available to win every time the holder played at home. Once a visiting team defeats the title holders, the trophy is theirs to protect and hold against all challengers in every home game during the regular season until they are beaten. A pre-season draw saw West Coast Fever declared the inaugural holder. Fever subsequently enjoyed a nine-game unbeaten run in the league. They retained the Challenge Trophy until Round 10 when they were defeated 56–48 by Queensland Firebirds. Firebirds defended the trophy in Round 11 against Melbourne Vixens and in Round 14 against Southern Steel, finishing the season as trophy holders.


2015 Queensland Firebirds season, Gallery
27 June 2015; Romelda Aiken with the ANZ Championship Challenge Trophy.


2015 Queensland Firebirds season, Gallery
27 June 2015; Laura Geitz captained Queensland Firebirds to the 2015 ANZ Championship


2015 Queensland Firebirds season, Gallery
27 June 2015; Roselee Jencke guided Queensland Firebirds to the 2015 ANZ Championship


2015 Queensland Handball League season
The 2015 Queensland Handball League is a Brisbane based championship for Handball. It is a home and away structure conducted in April to July 2015, with the winning team qualifying for the National Club Championship.


2015 Queensland Handball League season
The Northern Panthers firsts team won the competition from the Logan Wizards. Third was the Northern Panthers seconds and defending champions the University of Queensland were fourth. In the women, the Northern Panthers defeated the University of Queensland to claim the title.


2015 Queensland Handball League season
The North Brisbane Spring Competition was held in September 2015 and was a mixed male and female teams competition (similar to University Games rules) which was won by the Panthers Green team. The University of Queensland were the only non Northern Panthers team to participate.


2015 Queensland Handball League season
The Northern University Games were held at Toowoomba in July 2015, with defending champions Griffith University again taking out the gold medal. Silver medal winners were again the Queensland University of Technology. This year the University of New England took bronze.


2015 Queensland Handball League season
The Junior competition was run by Northern Panthers Handball Association and held during the second school term (April–June 2015) for the second season and featured three boys and one girls team, won by North Brisbane.


2015 Queensland state election
The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland.


2015 Queensland state election
The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a second term but was defeated by the opposition centre-left Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk. Labor formed a minority government with the support of the lone independent MP in the chamber, Peter Wellington. It is only the seventh change of government in Queensland since 1915, and only the third time since 1932 that a sitting government in the state has failed to win a second term. Furthermore, Annastacia Palaszczuk became the first woman to win government from opposition in a state election (eventual Chief Minister Clare Martin led the Labor Party to victory from opposition in 2001 at an election in the Northern Territory).


2015 Queensland state election
The previous election saw Labor, which had governed the state for all but two years since 1989, suffer the worst defeat of a sitting government in the state's history. The LNP won 78 seats—the largest majority government in Queensland history—compared to seven for Labor, two for Katter's Australian Party, and two won by independents. Following Labor's defeat former Premier Anna Bligh retired from politics and was succeeded as party leader by her former Transport Minister, Palaszczuk. Months later, Ray Hopper left the LNP to lead Katter's Australian Party while two further LNP


2015 Queensland state election
MPs became independents, resulting in a total of 75 LNP seats, seven Labor seats, three Katter seats and four independent seats. Two by-elections saw Labor defeat the LNP, reducing the LNP to 73 seats with Labor on 9 seats. Although Labor hoped to regain much of what it lost in its severe defeat of three years earlier, most polls pointed to the LNP being returned for another term with a reduced majority.


2015 Queensland state election
On election night, the outcome of the election was inconclusive, though most political analysts projected that the LNP had lost its majority after suffering what ended up being a record 14-point two-party swing. Newman was defeated in his seat of Ashgrove to his predecessor, Kate Jones—only the second time since Federation that a sitting Queensland premier has lost their own seat. With the outcome in his own seat beyond doubt, Newman announced his retirement from politics, though remained as caretaker premier pending the final results.


2015 Queensland state election
According to projections from both ABC News and Brisbane's The Courier-Mail, Labor had taken at least 30 seats from the LNP, and was very close to picking up the 36-seat swing it needed to form government in its own right—a feat initially thought impossible when the writs were issued. On the day after the election, both outlets had Labor either two or three seats short of a majority. Political analysts opined that the balance of power was likely to rest with Katter's Australian Party and independent Wellington.


2015 Queensland state election
Wellington announced on 5 February he would support a Palaszczuk-led Labor minority government on confidence and supply while retaining the right to vote on conscience. On 13 February, the Electoral Commission of Queensland declared the results of the election. Labor won 44 seats, one short of a majority, putting Labor in a position to form a minority government in the hung parliament. Even allowing for the LNP's previously overwhelming majority, the 37-seat swing is the second-largest shift of seats against a sitting government in Queensland since Federation, only exceeded by the 44-seat shift against Labor in 2012. Conversely, the two-party swing of 13.7 points in 2012 was exceeded by the 2015 two-party swing of 14.0 points.


2015 Queensland state election
Palaszczuk approached Governor Paul de Jersey on 11 February and advised him that she could form a minority government. Palaszczuk and de Jersey met again on 13 February. At that meeting, de Jersey formally invited Palaszczuk to form a government, an invitation that Palaszczuk accepted. On 14 February, Palaszczuk was sworn in as the 39th Premier of Queensland.


2015 Queensland state election, Results
Queensland state election, 31 January 2015Legislative Assembly << 2012–2017 >>


2015 Queensland state election, Results, Post-Election Pendulum
Labor regained power mainly on the strength of recovering much of what it had lost in Brisbane at the 2012 election. Brisbane had been Labor's power base for more than a quarter-century; Labor had gone into the 2012 election holding 36 of the capital's 40 seats, losing all but three at the election. In 2015, however, Labor won 28 seats in Brisbane. The LNP was still in a position to hope for a minority government primarily by sweeping the Gold Coast, albeit in most cases by somewhat smaller margins than in 2012.


2015 Queensland state election, Results, Post-Election Pendulum
Although Queensland is Australia's least centralised state, since the abolition of the Bjelkemander it has been extremely difficult to form even a minority government without a strong base in Brisbane. The 2015 election underscored this. None of the LNP's safe seats (greater than 10 percent 2PP) were located in Brisbane. The LNP's safest seat, Moggill, only had a majority of 8.2 percent, putting it on the strong side of fairly safe. In contrast, all but two of Labor's safe seats were in the capital.


2015 Queensland state election, Results, Post-Election Pendulum
Following the election, the Palmer United Party candidate for Ferny Grove, Mark Taverner, was revealed to be an undischarged bankrupt and was therefore ineligible to run. The revelation spurred speculation that there may need to be a by-election to resolve the seat. The Electoral Commission of Queensland initially released a statement on 8 February saying that it would declare the seat, and then refer the issue to the Supreme Court of Queensland sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns. The statement raised a by-election as a possible outcome.


2015 Queensland state election, Results, Post-Election Pendulum
Lawrence Springborg, who succeeded Newman as LNP leader on 7 February, called for the caretaker government to continue until after a possible Ferny Grove by-election is held, citing both the uncertainty of a hung parliament and doubt over the status of Ferny Grove. Conversely, ABC election analyst Antony Green believed that the Ferny Grove outcome and possible by-election would not affect who forms government. Professor Graeme Orr, an electoral law expert at University of Queensland, labelled the prospect of the LNP maintaining a caretaker government until a possible by-election analogous to a "constitutional coup".


2015 Queensland state election, Results, Post-Election Pendulum
Orr also reasoned that the law and facts were against a Ferny Grove by-election. The Electoral Commission of Queensland declared Ferny Grove had been won by the Labor candidate Mark Furner over LNP incumbent Dale Shuttleworth on 11 February, signalling that it would soon refer the matter to the Court of Disputed Returns. Green analysed the Ferny Grove tally and concluded that Taverner did not have an effect on the outcome of the election. Specifically, Green concluded that at most, 353 of Taverner's ballot papers had exhausted. However, Furner would have still won even if all of those votes had gone to Shuttleworth had Taverner not been on the ballot. To Green's mind, this made it extremely difficult to argue that exhausted preferences alone would be enough to demand a by-election in Ferny Grove.


2015 Queensland state election, Results, Post-Election Pendulum
On 13 February the Electoral Commission of Queensland stated that, based on legal advice, they would not be referring the Ferny Grove result to the Court of Disputed Returns. This formally cleared the way for a Labor minority government, and Governor Paul de Jersey invited Palaszczuk to form a government later that day. The LNP stated they were considering their legal options, with Springborg later releasing a statement where he "congratulate[d] incoming Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her government". On 16 February the LNP announced it would not be challenging the Ferny Grove result.


2015 Queensland state election, Voting method
Queensland used an optional preferential version of the instant-runoff system in single-member electorates, in 2016 compulsory preferential voting was readopted. The election was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Queensland, an independent body answerable to Parliament. In Queensland, a parliamentary term was for a maximum of three years, measured from the day set for the return of the electoral writs, as a result of the 2016 referendum in future Queensland will have fixed four-year terms. The previous state election was held on 24 March 2012.


2015 Queensland state election, Date
Section 80 of the Queensland Electoral Act 1992 states that an election must be held on a Saturday, and that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 26 or a maximum of 56 days following the issue of the writs including the day the writ drops and polling day. Five to seven days following the issue of the writs, the electoral roll is closed, which gives voters a final opportunity to enrol or to notify the Electoral Commission of Queensland of any changes in their place of residence.


2015 Queensland state election, Date
The Constitution Act Amendment Act 1890 provides that the Legislative Assembly continues for no more than three years from the day set for the return of writs for the previous election, after which time the Legislative Assembly expires. The day set for the return of writs for the 2012 election was 23 April 2012. The Electoral Act requires the Governor to issue writs for a general election no more than four days after the Legislative Assembly is dissolved or expires. The last possible day for the next election is therefore a Saturday not more than 56 days beyond four days after the expiry of the Legislative Assembly on 23 April 2015, namely, 20 June 2015.


2015 Queensland state election, Date
Under current election rules, the date of the election is at the discretion of the Governor under advice from the Premier, although the leaders of the two largest parties support in principle a change to fixed four-year terms.


2015 Queensland state election, Date
On 5 January 2015, media organisations reported that Newman intended to announce the election date the next day. On 6 January, Newman confirmed on Twitter that he had visited acting governor Tim Carmody and writs had been issued for an election on 31 January. This was the first time in over a century that an Australian general election was held in January. The last January election was held in Tasmania in 1913 and the last on the mainland was the New South Wales colonial election of 1874–75.


2015 Queensland state election, Date
The election was held on the same day as the 2015 Davenport state by-election in South Australia.


2015 Queensland state election, Contesting parties
Besides the ALP and LNP, the election was contested by The Greens, Family First, Katter's Australian Party, One Nation and the Palmer United Party.


2015 Queensland state election, Last election
The last state election to be held was the 2012 Queensland state election where the Australian Labor Party led by Premier Anna Bligh attempted to win a second term as Premier in her own right and a third term overall and a sixth consecutive term in office. Opposing her was the Liberal National Party led by Campbell Newman. The election was the second for Bligh who had succeeded Peter Beattie as Premier in 2007. Newman was the former Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 2004 to 2011, having resigned the position to run for Premier.


2015 Queensland state election, Last election
As Newman did not have a seat in state parliament, he chose to contest preselection in the seat of Ashgrove for the 2012 election, and lead the party from outside of parliament until the election. Jeff Seeney served as Opposition Leader in the parliament.


2015 Queensland state election, Last election
The Labor Party went into the election with a modest margin with 51 seats, while the Liberal National Party had 32 seats. Labor was defeated in an historic landslide, the LNP winning 78 seats to just seven for Labor, with Newman winning of Ashgrove from the former Environment Minister, Kate Jones.


2015 Queensland state election, Last election
Aidan McLindon, the parliamentary leader of the Katter's Australia Party, lost his seat of Beaudesert, but the KAP won two seats. Only two of the independent members were re-elected.


2015 Queensland state election, Last election
Three by-elections occurred after the 2012 state election. Labor candidate Yvette D'Ath won the 2014 Redcliffe by-election in February, and Labor candidate Anthony Lynham won the 2014 Stafford by-election in July. Jackie Trad held Bligh's former seat of South Brisbane of Labor in an April 2012 by-election, following Bligh's resignation from parliament.


2015 Queensland state election, Pre-election pendulum
Following the 2012 election, Ray Hopper left the LNP to lead Katter's Australian Party while two further LNP MPs became independents (Carl Judge in the electorate of Yeerongpilly and Dr Alex Douglas in the electorate of Gaven), resulting in a total of 75 LNP seats, seven Labor seats, three Katter seats and four independent seats. By-elections in Redcliffe and Stafford saw Labor defeat the LNP, reducing the LNP to 73 seats with Labor on 9 seats.


2015 Queensland state election, Retiring MPs
Members who were deselected or who chose not to renominate were as follows:


2015 Queensland state election, Polling
Polling conducted by Newspoll and published in The Australian is conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes usually consist of around 1100–1200 electors. The declared margin of error is ±3 percentage points.


2015 Quetta bus bombing
The  2015 Quetta bus bombing  occurred on 19 October 2015 in Quetta a city in Balochistan. The blast killed at least 11 people and another 22 were injured.


2015 Quick Lane Bowl
The 2015 Quick Lane Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Central Michigan Chippewas of the Mid-American Conference and the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten Conference played on December 28, 2015, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. It was the second edition of the Quick Lane Bowl. The game began at 5:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN2.


2015 Quick Lane Bowl
Although Minnesota finished with a below .500 record, they were allowed to participate in a bowl game after only 77 teams qualified for 80 available bowl spots. Minnesota was selected as one of three 5–7 teams to fill the final bowl spots due to their APR scores.


2015 Quicken Loans 400
The 2015 Quicken Loans 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on June 14, 2015 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 138 of the scheduled 200 laps on the 2 mile (3.2 km) D-shaped speedway, it was the 15th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kurt Busch won the race, his second of the season, while Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Martin Truex, Jr. finished second and third. Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.


2015 Quicken Loans 400
Kasey Kahne won the pole for the race and led one lap on his way to a 15th-place finish. Kevin Harvick led a race high of 63 laps before a flat tire and rain relegated him to a 29th-place finish. The race had 17 lead changes among eleven different drivers, as well as five caution flag periods for 38 laps. There were three red flag periods for one hour, 33 minutes and 13 seconds.


2015 Quicken Loans 400
This was the 27th career victory for Kurt Busch, third at Michigan International Speedway and first at the track for Stewart-Haas Racing. This win moved Busch to eleventh in the points standings. Chevrolet left Michigan with a 66-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.


2015 Quicken Loans 400
The Quicken Loans 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the cable/satellite Fox Sports 1 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 Quicken Loans 400, Report, Background
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Freeway 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).


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Report, Background
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). Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 200 MPH (320 km/h) and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 215 to 220 mph (346 to 354 km/h) after the 2012 repaving of the track.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Report, Background
Kevin Harvick entered Michigan with a 39-point lead over Martin Truex Jr. following a runner-up finish at Pocono to Truex. Jimmie Johnson entered 78 back. Joey Logano entered 79 back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 94 back.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Report, Background, Entry list
The entry list for the Quicken Loans 400 was released on Tuesday, June 9 at 9:09 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford driven by Ryan Blaney were entered the week before at Pocono. The only driver swap for this race is the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford that was driven by Mike Bliss.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, First practice
Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.557 and a speed of 202.492 mph (325.879 km/h). His teammate Kurt Busch slapped the wall exiting turn 2 with 30 minutes remaining in the session and switched to his backup car. "Went down in there and was a little twitchier when it turned in and then it went full on left," Busch radioed to his team after the hit. "Sorry … it's pretty much ruined." Because this change took place prior to qualifying, he was not required to start the race from the rear of the field. The session was shortened due to rain.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Qualifying
Kasey Kahne won the pole with a time of 35.645 and a speed of 201.992 mph (325.075 km/h). “Our Great Clips Chevrolet has had speed all three runs, so I knew we’d have a shot today, so that was cool,” Kahne said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a pole. It’s going to be really important. The track is going to change a lot, though, come Sunday, with all the racing going on this weekend and then our practices tomorrow. The track will be a lot different Sunday.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Qualifying
So, there will be some passing for sure, but it’s not going to be easy. So, track position will play a big role in being there at the end of the race.” "Kasey [Kahne] put up a little better lap than I did, but it was still a solid run," Kevin Harvick said after qualifying second. “It was a good lap,” said Brad Keselowski after qualifying third. “This is one of our weakness tracks here at Michigan International Speedway. We are working on it and trying to get better. I honestly didn’t think we would qualify this well.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Qualifying
We came with some new stuff on the car, which seems to be working. I am proud of everyone at Team Penske, Ford and Roush Yates engines for that.” Brendan Gaughan was the lone driver who failed to qualify for the race. Ryan Blaney qualified fifth for the race. “It's really all you can ask for to be better and better in the three rounds,” Blaney said of the team's qualifying effort. “Everyone did a great job. (Crew chief) Jeremy (Bullins) did a great job of getting us better. It was a good effort for us. We needed it. We're excited about Sunday."


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Second practice
Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.806 and a speed of 201.084 mph (323.613 km/h).


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Final practice
Jeff Gordon was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.253 and a speed of 198.604 mph (319.622 km/h). Halfway through the session, Denny Hamlin spun out on the front stretch and caused minor damage to the front splitter. The team initially decided to roll out the backup car, but chose to fix the primary car rather than starting from the rear of the race.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, First half, Start and rain delays
The race was scheduled to start at 1:16 p.m., but the threat of thunderstorms prompted NASCAR to move the start time up ten minutes. Eventually, the race started eight minutes after one. Kasey Kahne led the field to the green flag, but lost the lead to Carl Edwards on the first lap. He passed him to lead the second lap. Edwards went by him again to lead the third lap. The first caution of the race flew on lap 11 for rain in turns 1 and 2. The race was red flagged on lap 13 for rain.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, First half, Start and rain delays
After 59 minutes, the red flag was lifted and the field was moved off pit road. After two laps under caution, rain began to fall again in turn 1. The rain started coming down harder all around the track and the field was brought back down pit road again. The race was red flagged a second time on lap 19. It was lifted after 34 minutes.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, First half, Start and rain delays
The race was set to restart on lap 25, but it was called off after Alex Bowman – who made contact with the wall early in the race – left debris on the backstretch. Eventually, the race restarted on lap 29. The second caution of the race flew on lap 41. It was a scheduled competition caution due to overnight rain. Josh Wise opted not to pit and took the lead. He drove down pit road the next lap and handed the lead to Kevin Harvick.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, First half, Start and rain delays
Just as the field was lining up for the restart on lap 44, rain began to pour a third time. The field was brought back down pit road and the race was red flagged for the third time. After 36 minutes, the red flag was lifted and the field rolled off pit road.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 52. The third caution of the race flew on lap 53 for a single car wreck on the front stretch. Exiting turn 4, Kyle Busch's car snapped loose, turned up the track and pounded the wall. The SAFER barrier he hit was damaged and required repair.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 60. A number of cars began hitting pit road around lap 77. Kevin Harvick surrendered the lead to pit on lap 83 and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. He pitted on lap 85 and handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He ducked onto pit road the next lap and gave the lead to Kyle Larson. He pitted on lap 88 and handed the lead to Joey Logano. He ran out of fuel on lap 95 and hit pit road. This gave the lead to Danica Patrick. She pitted on lap 97 and the lead cycled back to teammate Harvick.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
Harvick gave up the lead to pit on lap 121 and handed it to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He pitted the next lap and it went to Kenseth. He pitted the next lap and handed it to Keselowski. Harvick stopped a second time for a flat right-front tire. Debris in turn 3 brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 125. That debris came from Harvick's car. Edwards opted not to pit and assumed the lead with rain just three miles out. The gamble failed and he pitted before the restart.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Second half, Finish
Kyle Larson led the field to the restart on lap 130. He too failed on his gamble, pitted for gas three laps later and gave the lead to Kurt Busch. “Yeah, we could see weather coming there off of (Turn) 4 and just praying that it would get here in time for me to stay out and be in the lead when the rain did hit,” Larson said. “Hey, I applaud my guys for trying. We are pretty deep in points so we have to take risks like that to make the Chase.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Second half, Finish
I’m happy with the call, just wish the rain would have come three laps sooner.” The fifth caution of the race flew with 64 laps to go for rain. The field was brought down pit road and the race was red flagged for the fourth time with 62 laps to go. Eventually, NASCAR called the race due to darkness being near and no sign of the weather letting up and Kurt Busch scored his 27th career win and third at Michigan, similar to the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 last year when Aric Almirola scored his first career win at Daytona.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Post-race, Post-race comments
“We’ve got some indicators around lighting, when it gets within a certain mileage we have to work with the track and the track is going to evacuate the grandstands. Even when the sun was shining, it was still raining at 6:30 but post that when the sun came out, there was still lightning in the area, it would have been really challenging to have put fans in that circumstance. We judge it on how much time do we have left – daylight – you don’t have lights in Michigan, and more importantly, what does the weather look like.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Post-race, Post-race comments
It takes longer to dry a track as you get later in the afternoon. Once we had to evacuate the grandstands … that put us in a really challenging situation. The fans had stuck it out for a long time and then when you looked at the radar and the possibility of continued lightning and rain, we thought it was the most prudent decision to make at that time to call it a day.’’


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Post-race, Post-race comments
NASCAR Executive Vice-President Steve O'Donnell speaking on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Post-race, Post-race comments
“(Crew chief) Tony Gibson led these guys through a back-up car, the pit crew was there giving it its best,” Kurt Busch said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to know what we went through, paced ourselves and found the lead towards the latter part of the race and then the rain came in.” “Yeah, I mean, you just had to wait on the weather to get moved out, wait on them to dry the track,” Earnhardt Jr. said after finishing second.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Post-race, Post-race comments
“You know, it didn't give you a whole lot of opportunities to understand your car and know exactly how to adjust your car and what to work on, so we were still dealing with some issues that we wanted to improve when the final shower came.” “We were able to use the strategy to our benefit and come out of here with a top-10 effort and that feels great for this team,” Trevor Bayne said of his season-best finish of ninth. “We have been working hard to get up better results all season and to get this ninth place finish today is a confidence and momentum builder.”


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Race, Post-race, Post-race comments
In his weekly Monday appearance on the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio program The Morning Drive, NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Officer Steve O'Donnell explained to Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone the process and reasoning to why the race was called before its scheduled conclusion.


2015 Quicken Loans 400, Media, Television
Fox Sports covered their seventh race at Michigan International Speedway and their first since 2006. Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and two time Michigan winner Darrell Waltrip had the booth to call the race. Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.


2015 Quicken Loans 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 in the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside turn 4 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post worked pit road for MRN.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500
The 2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on November 15, 2015, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 219 laps – shortened from 312 due to rain – on the one mile (1.6 km) oval, it was the 35th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, ninth race of the Chase and final race of the Eliminator Round. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the race, his third of the season. Kevin Harvick finished second. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500
Johnson won the pole for the race and led 44 laps on his way to a fifth–place finish. Harvick led a race high of 143 laps on his way to a runner-up finish. There were eight lead changes among seven different drivers, as well as two cautions for 29 laps.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500
This was the 26th career victory for Earnhardt, third of the season, third at Phoenix International Raceway and 10th at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. It moved him to seventh in the points standings. The win clinched Chevrolet its 39th overall – 13th consecutive – manufacturer's championship. It would ultimately prove to be Earnhardt's final career victory before his retirement in 2017.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500
The Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 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 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background
Phoenix International Raceway (Jeff Gordon Raceway) – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background
The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background
Phoenix International Raceway is home to two annual NASCAR race weekends, one of 13 facilities on the NASCAR schedule to host more than one race weekend a year. The track is both the first and last stop in the western United States, as well as the fourth and penultimate track on the schedule.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background
Jeff Gordon entered with a two–point over Kyle Busch. Kevin Harvick entered third three–points back. Martin Truex, Jr. entered fourth six–points back. Carl Edwards entered fifth 13–points back. Brad Keselowski entered sixth 19–points back. Kurt Busch entered seventh 34–points back. Joey Logano entered eighth 69–points back.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background, Jeff Gordon Raceway
On June 11, 2015, Phoenix International Raceway announced that it would be renamed Jeff Gordon Raceway for the Sprint Cup Series race. Track President Bryan Sperber said that they "were thinking of it like an athlete getting the keys to the city. It (the idea) took off from there. Starting with the quirky layout of our track, it seems like Phoenix always does things a little different. We're the next-to-last race so a lot of good ideas will already have been implemented at other venues. We thought, 'We better step up our game' and do something really cool, that the fans can be a part of, that what we do for Jeff is remembered."


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background, Chase-clinching scenarios
The following Chase-clinching scenarios were in play for the weekend's race.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Report, Background, Entry list
The entry list for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 was released on Monday, November 9 at 1:23 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-three cars were entered for the race. Ryan Ellis made his Sprint Cup Series debut in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet. Ryan Preece drove the No. 98 Premium Motorsports Ford. Erik Jones drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota while Matt Kenseth served the second of his two–race suspension.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, First practice
Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 25.383 and a speed of 141.827 mph (228.248 km/h).


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Qualifying
Jimmie Johnson won the pole with a new track record time of 25.147 and a speed of 143.158 mph (230.390 km/h). He said that his team "didn’t have the summer that we wanted, but these guys have been working so hard on the No. 48 team and at Hendrick Motorsports. So, I’m very happy to see the progress and the direction things are going. It’s been a little bit, everywhere. If we keep doing that, we’re going to close this season out just like we want to and be ready for 2016.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Qualifying
Kurt Busch, who qualified second, said he felt that he "let the team down a little on that lap because our car is better than that. But starting upfront here is a big advantage and we’ll work on the car a little tomorrow to fine tune and be ready to go out and race on Sunday and hope for a win.” Joey Logano, who qualified 14th, said that he "just missed it a little bit. I wish we were in the next round and going for a pole, but the fact of the matter is we’re gonna start 14th and we’re gonna work on our car tomorrow and get it ready to win a race on Sunday.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Practice (post-qualifying), Second practice
Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 25.783 and a speed of 139.627 mph (224.708 km/h).


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Practice (post-qualifying), Final practice
Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 25.709 and a speed of 140.029 mph (225.355 km/h).


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, First half, Start
The race was scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m., but rain showers delayed the start of the race. After a delay of over six and a half hours, the cars began rolling off pit road just after 7:00 p.m. Under a clear night Arizona sky, Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag at 9:27 p.m. He wouldn't lead the first lap though. That honor went to Kurt Busch.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, First half, Start
He wouldn't be credited with leading those laps, however, after he was black-flagged for beating the control car (the leader) to the line on the initial start and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Following the race, Busch said he "had no reason to jump the start. I had no reason to get excited. We (thought we) had 312 laps to go race. But we’ve had a great season.” As a result, Johnson was credited with leading those seven laps. The first caution of the race flew on lap 41.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, First half, Start
This was a scheduled competition caution because of the rain. Kevin Harvick exited pit road with the lead after taking just right-side tires. Johnson was tagged for speeding on pit road. Danica Patrick was tagged for her crew being over the wall too soon. Both restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 48. The heavy betting favorite proceeded to drive away from the rest of the top-10 cars and put everyone up to 20th down a lap. Joey Logano kicked off a round of green flag stops on lap 119. Race leader Harvick pitted on lap 120 and handed the lead to Kyle Busch. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted on lap 124 and handed the lead to David Ragan. He pitted on lap 126 and the lead cycled back to Harvick. Trevor Bayne and Keselowski were both tagged for speeding on pit road and were forced to serve drive-through penalties.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Second half, Halfway
Logano was the first on pit road at lap 194 to kick off the next round of stops. Harvick pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. The second caution of the race flew on lap 196 for a two-car wreck in turn 3. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. got loose, hit the back of Joey Gase and sent them both into the wall. Earnhardt opted not to pit – having just made his stop prior to the caution – and assumed the race lead.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Second half, Halfway
After three attempts to restart the race were waved off because of a safety vehicle sitting on the track in turn 4, the field continued to be under caution due to rain. The race was red-flagged on lap 220. After a few minutes, NASCAR called the race and Earnhardt was declared the winner for the 26th and final time in his career, similar to the rain-shortened 2015 Quicken Loans 400 in June when Kurt Busch scored his second win of the season. His victory also clinched the manufacturer's championship for Chevrolet.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Earnhardt said that his team "had an idea that the rain was in the area, but all the circumstances that played out at the end of the race are just kind of luck I think. I want to give Greg (Ives, crew chief) a lot of credit and the guys. They gave us a good enough car to come here and qualify well. I think the reason why we won this race is because of the way we qualified to give ourselves a position to be up front all night."


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
After a second-place finish clinched his spot in the championship race, Harvick said that he didn't "want to be greedy and be disappointed with how it went today when you look at the big picture. I think it's definitely been a Chase that's been a little bit up and down for us, but the guys have battled through, and we've survived a lot of situations to be in contention for next week. You always want to win when you have a car like we did today, but I'll take it again next week."


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
He also added that, while losing the race was bittersweet, his Budweiser Chevrolet "just really performed well today and we were able to lead a lot of laps and just really proud of the guys for the decisions that they made overnight to get that last little bit out of the car today and how it performed was really good.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Just caution came out at the wrong time, and we didn't get to make up the ground on the racetrack under green, where Dale was pitted and the way that they came out of the pits just didn't time out well. But still proud of our group, and sometimes you win some of those things, sometimes you don't, but in the end the big picture is what it's all about.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
After a third-place finish wasn't enough to advance Logano to the championship race, he said that it's not easy "to play the race with rain in the area. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, but you just hope there’s another shot. You hope that there’s a restart and if two of them slip up and you’re able to put it three-wide on the bottom, or do something like that, but just didn’t ever have the opportunity there at the end.


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
We had plenty of opportunities to try and get ourselves to the front, we just weren’t as fast at the 4 (Kevin Harvick). We were a solid second place car, but (Dale Earnhardt) Junior timed it out really well when they pitted to that caution and it worked out really well for them.” He also said that he "can't help the weather. I guess it wasn’t in the cards tonight, but I’m still super proud of what this Pennzoil team has done all year.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Following a fourth-place finish that advanced Kyle Busch to the championship race, he said that he was gratified with "this team. (Crew chief) Adam Stevens and these guys, they worked hard and they persevered all through the beginning part of the season when I was gone working with David Ragan, Erik Jones and Matt Crafton and those guys that drove my race car. But once I was able to return, it felt pretty good to get back in the car and have my team guys motivated and ready to have me back, and we've really excelled since then.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Following a sixth-place finish, Gordon said that drivers "want to win when you have a car like we did today, but I'll take it again next week. We're excited about the opportunity to go down there (Homestead). Certainly for me, my final race. I can't think of anything sweeter than just having that opportunity to go down there and battle for the championship and seeing what happens.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
After being black-flagged at the start of the race and rallying to a seventh-place finish, Kurt Busch said that he "had a great season, we won two races, sat on three poles. We did everything possible to put polish on a season like this and get out there with elbow grease and work hard it, and you know, when there’s some tarnish that’s sitting there, polish and polish and polish, that’s all I kept doing all year.”


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
After a 14th-place finish was enough to beat out Carl Edwards for the final championship race spot, Martin Truex, Jr. said that it was "obviously an exciting day for everybody at Furniture Row Racing and me. Just super proud of my team for the season we've been able to put together, and I feel like we've overcome a lot of obstacles. We have kind of overcome a lot of odds, and I'm just proud to be part of this group and looking forward to having the opportunity to do something that we've all dreamed about our whole lives next weekend."


2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Media, Television
NBC Sports was scheduled to covered the race on the television side but NBCSN covered the race due to rain. Rick Allen,  two–time Phoenix winner 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 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Media, Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Jeff Striegle, Alex Hayden and 1998 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the frontstretch. Dan Hubbard called the race from atop the turn 1 suites when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kyle Rickey called the race from a billboard outside turn 4 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Winston Kelley, Pete Pistone and Steve Post handled pit road on the radio side.


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas
The 2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas is a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It is the 18th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Dallas, United States between 2 and 8 February 2015.


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players got into the singles main draw as a special exempt:


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players got into the singles main draw as an alternate:


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas – Doubles
Samuel Groth and Chris Guccione were the defending champions but did not participate this year.


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas – Doubles
Denys Molchanov and Andrey Rublev won the title over qualifiers Hans Hach Verdugo and Luis Patiño, 6–4, 7–6(7–5).


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas – Singles
Steve Johnson was the defending champion but did not participate.


2015 RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas – Singles
Tim Smyczek won the title when Rajeev Ram retired in the final.


2015 RFL Championship
The 2015 Rugby Football League Championship, known as the Kingstone Press Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a professional rugby league football competition played in the UK, one tier below the Super League.


2015 RFL Championship
The 2015 Championship featured twelve teams, who played each other twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totaling 22 games. The 2015 season also saw for the first time the Summer Bash Weekend, which was played at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool and created an additional round of fixtures. After 23 rounds in both the Championship and the Super League, the two divisions of twelve were split into the Rugby League Super 8s.


2015 RFL Championship
Leigh Centurions were the league leaders after 23 rounds and were thus deemed Champions for the 2015 season, while Hunslet Hawks and Doncaster were relegated following the culmination of the Super 8s.


2015 RFL Championship, Teams
The competition featured 12 teams, as opposed to the 14 seen in the previous year. The teams consisted of nine of the 14 teams from 2014, the Play-off winner of the 2014 Championship 1 season, which was Hunslet Hawks, and the two sides relegated from 2014 Super League, Bradford Bulls and London Broncos. Keighley Cougars, North Wales Crusaders, Rochdale Hornets, Swinton Lions, and Barrow Raiders who finished in the bottom five in 2015 were relegated into League One for 2015.


2015 RFL Championship, Season standings
The regular league season saw the 12 teams play each other twice (one home, one away) over 24 matches. The top four teams at the end of the regular season qualified for "The Qualifiers", while the other eight teams contested the "Championship Shield".


2015 RFL Championship, Season standings
The Qualifiers Super 8's saw the bottom 4 teams from Super League table join the top 4 teams from the Championship. The points totals are reset to 0 and each team plays 7 games each, playing every other team once. After 7 games each the teams finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will gain qualification to the 2016 Super League season. The teams finishing 4th and 5th will play in the "Million Pound Game" at the home of the 4th place team which will earn the winner a place in the 2016 Super League; the loser, along with teams finishing 6th, 7th and 8th, will be relegated to the Championship.


2015 RFL Championship, Season standings
The third of the three "Super 8" groups saw teams finishing 5th to 12th in the regular Championship table. Like the Super League 8's, these teams retained their original points and played 7 extra games, with the teams finishing in the top 4 places after these extra games contesting play offs similar to Super League, with 1st v 4th and 2nd vs 3rd, with the winners contesting the Championship Shield Grand Final. The two teams finishing at the bottom of this Super 8s group (7th and 8th) were relegated to the League 1 2016 season, and replaced by the two 2015 League One promoted sides.


2015 RFL Championship, Season standings
(Q) Qualified for the Semi Final(R) Relegated to League 1


2015 RFL Championship season results
This is a list of the 2015 RFL Championship season results. The Championship is the second-tier rugby league competition in the United Kingdom. The season started on 13 February. 2015 is the first season to consist of a 12-team division, as part of the Rugby Football League's reform of the leagues.


2015 RFL Championship season results
The regular season will be played over 24 round-robin fixtures, where each of the twelve teams involved in the competition play each other, once at home and once away. In the Championship, points are only gained for a win, which are worth two points, or a draw, which is worth one point. No bonus points will be awarded this season.


2015 RFL Championship season results
The play-offs will commence after the round-robin fixtures. The top four teams in the Championship will qualify for "The Qualifiers", along with the bottom four teams in the Super League. Each team's points totals will be reset to zero and each team will play against each other once.


2015 RFL Championship season results
The top three teams will qualify automatically for the Super League in 2016, the fourth and fifth-placed teams will contest the "Million Pound Game" at the venue of the fourth-placed team, with the winner also earning a place in the Super League for 2016, while  the losing team and the bottom three teams will enter the Championship in 2016.


2015 RFL Championship season results
The fifth-twelfth placed teams in the Championship in 2015 will contest the "Championship Shield", where each team will play seven extra games, retaining their original points. The top four teams will contest play-offs, with the first-placed team facing the fourth-placed team and the second-placed team facing the third-placed team; The two winning teams will then contest the Championship Shield Grand Final. The bottom two teams will be relegated to League 1 in 2016.


2015 RX245
2015 RX245 is an extreme trans-Neptunian object, detached, on a highly eccentric orbit in the outermost region of the Solar System. It measures approximately 250 kilometers (160 miles) in diameter and is "possibly" a dwarf planet. It was first observed on 8 September 2015, by astronomers with Outer Solar System Origins Survey using the 3.6-meter Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, in the United States.


2015 RX245, Orbit and classification
2015 RX245 belongs to a small group of detached objects with perihelion distances of 30 AU or more, and semi-major axes of 150 AU or more. These extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNOs) can not reach such orbits without some perturbing object, which lead to the speculation of Planet Nine. It is also denoted at extended detached disc object or extreme distant detached object (EDDO).


2015 RX245, Orbit and classification
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 45.6–788 AU once every 8512 years (3,109,107 days; semi-major axis of 417 AU). Its orbit has an exceptionally high eccentricity of 0.89 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.


2015 RX245, Orbit and classification
The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Mauna Kea on 23 June 2015, or 11 weeks prior to its official first observation. It has a minimum orbital intersection distance with Neptune of 17.5 AU. 2015 RX245 has a similar size and orbit as 2013 SY99, as well as close positions to each other at the moment, both about 60 AU from the Sun (see adjunct diagram, in the middle bottom).


2015 RX245, Numbering and naming
As of 2018, this minor planet has neither been numbered nor named by the Minor Planet Center. The official discoverers will be defined when the object is numbered.


2015 RX245, Physical characteristics
According to American astronomer Michael Brown and to the Johnston's archive, 2015 RX245 measures 128 and 130 kilometers in diameter based on an assumed albedo of 0.09 and 0.08, respectively. On his website, Michael Brown lists this object as "possibly" a dwarf planet (200–400 km) which is the least certain category in his 5-class taxonomic system. As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.


2015 RY245
2015 RY245, also known as o5s13, is a trans-Neptunian object from the scattered disc of the outermost reaches of the Solar System, approximately 78 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 September 2015, by the Outer Solar System Origins Survey using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, United States.


2015 RY245
It is one a small number of detached objects with perihelion distances of 30 AUs or more, and semi-major axes of 200 AU or more. Such objects can not reach such orbits without some perturbing object, which lead to the speculation of planet nine.


2015 Race of Champions
The 2015 Race of Champions was a motorsports event that took place over 20–21 November 2015 at the Olympic Stadium in London.


2015 Race of Champions
A previous six-time winner of the Nations' Cup, Sebastian Vettel became Champion of Champions for the first time, defeating Tom Kristensen, who made the final for the fourth time, 2–0. In the Nations' Cup itself, the England 1 team of Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx took the victory in a final race decider against Germany, who were represented by Vettel and fellow Formula One driver Nico Hülkenberg.


2015 Race of Champions, Cars
Eight vehicles were used throughout the event. Returning from the 2014 Race of Champions were the Ariel Atom Cup, the KTM X-Bow, the ROC Car and the NASCAR Chevrolet SS Stock Car as used in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Introduced for 2015 were the Mercedes-AMG GT, the Radical SR3 RSX and the Rage Comet, while the RX 150 returned after an absence of several years.


2015 Radford Highlanders men's soccer team
The 2015 Radford Highlanders men's soccer team will represent Radford University during the 2015 NCAA Division I men's soccer season.


2015 Radford Highlanders men's soccer team, Schedule
|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"| colspan=12 | *Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. |}


2015 Radio Disney Music Awards
The 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards were held and filmed on April 25, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. The show premiered on Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 8/7c on Radio Disney and Disney Channel. For the first time, the broadcast nominees for the awards show were announced in a televised special, Disney Channel Presents the 2015 RDMA Nomination Special, on 27 February 2015 on Disney Channel. All categories and nominees were highlighted on the Radio Disney’s 2015 RDMA Nomination Special, a two-hour on-air programming feature that was aired the next day.


2015 Radio Disney Music Awards
The main show included  Fifth Harmony, Nick Jonas, Becky G, R5, Natalie La Rose, Sheppard, Rachel Platten, Tori Kelly, Shawn Mendes and Sabrina Carpenter. The opening act was performed by The Fooo Conspiracy, Jessica Sanchez, Jacquie Lee, Sweet Suspense and Alex Angelo


2015 Radio Disney Music Awards, Compilation album
A compilation album featuring various 2015 RDMA nominees was released on April 21, 2015, through Walt Disney Records.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season
The 2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 5 January 2015 with the start of the 2015 Qatar Open.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Australian Open Series, Qatar Open
Nadal began the year as the defending champion at the Qatar Open. However, he lost in the first round, suffering a shocking three set defeat to world number 127 Michael Berrer. He won the doubles title with Juan Mónaco.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Australian Open Series, Australian Open
Nadal opened his 2015 Australian Open by defeating Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. In the second round, he prevailed in a tough five-setter against American Tim Smyczek, despite being visibly unwell at times during the match. He then beat Dudi Sela and Kevin Anderson in straight sets to advance to his 28th career Grand Slam quarterfinal. He was defeated there by Tomáš Berdych, thus ending his 17-match win streak against the Czech. This resulted in Berdych becoming only the second player to defeat all four members of the Big Four at a Grand Slam, after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, South American clay court season, Rio Open
Nadal reached the semifinals of the Rio Open after defeating Thomaz Bellucci, Pablo Carreño Busta and Pablo Cuevas. However, he lost to Fabio Fognini in three sets in the semifinals, despite winning the first set and being a break up in the second. This was the first loss in his career against the Italian.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, South American clay court season, Argentina Open
Nadal played in the ATP Buenos Aires tournament, in Argentina, reaching the final without losing a set. He won his first singles title of 2015 and his 46th career clay-court title with a straight-sets victory over Juan Mónaco.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, The March Masters, Indian Wells Masters
Nadal reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters after beating his first three opponents in straight sets. However, his run was ended by Milos Raonic who beat him in three tight sets after Nadal squandered three match points in the second set tiebreak.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, The March Masters, Miami Open
He next competed at the Miami Open, hoping to reach the final for the fifth time and win the tournament for the first time. He had a bye in the first round and proceeded by beating Nicolás Almagro in straight sets but he lost to Fernando Verdasco in the next round in three sets, failing to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open for the first time since 2006 (absent in 2013).


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, European clay court season, Monte-Carlo Masters
Nadal began his favourite part of the season in the clay courts of Monte-Carlo. After a first round bye, he defeated Lucas Pouille in a straight sets match before working hard to pass through big-serving John Isner in three tough sets to book his quarterfinal spot. He defeated David Ferrer in another tight, three set match to proceed to the semifinals, and record his first win over a top 10 player since the final of the 2014 French Open. However, he was defeated by world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in straight sets.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, European clay court season, Barcelona Open
Nadal received a bye in the first round of the 2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and faced Nicolás Almagro in the second round, completing his revenge for his only loss in Barcelona last year to him by beating him in straight sets. However, he was upset by Fabio Fognini in the next round in straight sets for the second time in the year. The loss made Fognini become the fifth man to beat Nadal on clay more than once after Gastón Gaudio, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and David Ferrer. He also became the second man to beat Nadal on clay twice in a row in the same year after Djokovic in 2011.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, European clay court season, Madrid Open
After a first round bye, Nadal had wins over Steve Johnson and Simone Bolelli, each in two sets. He faced Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals and also dispatched him in straight sets. In the semifinals, Nadal had a two set win over Tomáš Berdych to reach his seventh Madrid Open final and 41st Masters 1000 final. He lost to Andy Murray in the final in straight sets. The loss saw Nadal drop out of the Top 5 for the first time since 2005, falling to No. 7.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, European clay court season, Italian Open
Nadal was granted a first round bye and faced qualifier Marsel İlhan, dominating him in straight sets. He next faced the big-serving John Isner again in the third round and defeated him in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. He was taken down by Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals in straight sets, squandering a 6–2 lead in the first set tiebreak and four set points, marking the first time since 2008 that he did not reach the final at the tournament. This also marked the first time since 2004 that Nadal failed to win a single European clay court title before the French Open.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, European clay court season, French Open
Nadal opened his campaign for a 10th French Open title by facing off against wildcard Quentin Halys, beating him in straight sets. He then defeated compatriot Nicolás Almagro and Andrey Kuznetsov, again both in straight sets. In the fourth round he defeated Jack Sock in four sets, but eventually lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. The loss ended Nadal's 5 year winning streak at Roland Garros and was just his second loss ever at the tournament. This loss also marked the first time since 2004 that Nadal failed to win at least one of the first two Grand Slam events of the season. As a result, his ranking dropped to No. 10 in the ATP singles ranking, his lowest ranking since April 2005.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, The grass season, Stuttgart Open
Nadal opened his  grass-court season campaign by participating in the Stuttgart Open and survived his first match against Marcos Baghdatis by beating him in three tight sets. He next faces Bernard Tomic and booked his semifinal spot by beating him in another three tight sets. Nadal reached his first grass-court tournament final since reaching the 2011 Wimbledon final by beating Gaël Monfils in straight sets. Nadal won his third Stuttgart title and first grass-court title for the first time since winning the 2010 Wimbledon Championships by beating Viktor Troicki in straight sets in the final. It was only his 2nd title of 2015.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, The grass season, Queen's Club Championships
Nadal played at the Queen's Club for the first time since 2011 as the fifth seed. He was knocked out in the first round by Alexandr Dolgopolov, who had previously beaten him at the 2014 BNP Paribas Open.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, The grass season, Wimbledon
Nadal played at the 2015 Wimbledon as tenth seed. After beating Thomaz Bellucci in the first round in straight sets, he was eliminated in the second round in four sets by Dustin Brown. By winning, Brown became the first ever qualifier to ever beat Nadal at a Grand Slam.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, US Open Series, German Open
Nadal decided to participate in the German Open for the first time since he defeated Roger Federer in the 2008 final in this tournament. He faced a tough opponent, Fernando Verdasco, in the first round but managed to defeat him in three sets. He next faced Jiří Veselý and easily dispatched him in straight sets followed by another straightforward quarterfinal victory against Pablo Cuevas to set a semifinal encounter with Andreas Seppi, which he won again in straight sets. Nadal extended his streak of winning at least one European clay-court title every year since winning in 2004 by beating Fabio Fognini in the Hamburg final in straight sets.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, US Open Series, Canadian Open
Nadal opened his hard-court season campaign in Canada where he had won the title 3 times. He faced Sergiy Stakhovsky as his first opponent and defeated him in straight sets. He beat Mikhail Youzhny in the third round and advanced to QF, where he  lost to Kei Nishikori in straight sets. This marked the first time in eight meetings that he lost a match against the Japanese player.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, US Open Series, Cincinnati Masters
Nadal participated in the Cincinnati Masters the following week, hoping to repeat his 2013 feat by winning this tournament. He opened his campaign against Frenchman Jérémy Chardy and successfully defeated the Rogers Cup semi-finalist in straight sets to book his third round clash with compatriot Feliciano López, which he lost in three sets.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, US Open Series, US Open
In the final major of the season, Nadal once again faced Fognini, and again was defeated by the player from Italy, losing in the third round. In that match, Nadal won the first two sets, and previously had been 151–0 in Grand Slam matches that he led two sets to love(0). However, Fognini still defeated Nadal in five sets. The upset loss ended Nadal's record 10-year streak of winning at least one major, and leaving him one year short of the record 11-year streak of reaching at least one major final (shared by Lendl and Sampras). This remained the only time he had lost a Grand Slam tournament singles match after starting with a 2-0 lead until the quarterfinals of the 2021 Australian Open where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, Davis Cup
Nadal and many of his Spanish compatriots made a comeback to the Spanish Davis Cup team after the captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team, Gala Leon, was fired due to several critics and rebellions from the Spanish tennis players like Nadal and Ferrer. Spain was now at the Europe Africa Zone due to several consecutive losses. Spain meets Denmark in the 1st round play-offs and easily defeated Denmark with a dominant 5–0 score with Rafa winning in both doubles and singles. He won against Mikael Torpegaard in straight sets.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, China Open
Nadal started the Asian Fall by participating in the China Open where he managed to reach the quarterfinals after beating home hope Wu Di and Vasek Pospisil both in straight sets. He survived a quarterfinal test against Jack Sock after comebacking from a set down to set a fifth meeting this year with his nemesis Fabio Fognini. He succeeded in exacting revenge against Fognini by beating him in straight sets to reach his first hard-court tournament final for more than a year. Nadal lost to World No.1 Novak Djokovic in the final 2-6, 2-6.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, Shanghai Masters
Nadal received a first round bye into this ATP Masters 1000 event and faced Ivo Karlović in the second round. Nadal won the first set 7-5 after initially trailing 3-5 but Karlovic forced the second set to a decider which he won 6-7(4). After 2 hours and 44 minutes, Nadal prevailed in the third and final set decider 7-6(4) and won the match. Nadal then avenged his Indian Wells quarterfinals lost against Milos Raonic by beating him in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, Shanghai Masters
He defeated World No.4 and 2015 French Open Champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to reach his first semifinal of a Masters 1000 hard-court tournament in more than a year and with this win, Nadal qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals. Despite sporting an 8-3 head-to-head winning record against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,  Nadal fell to the Frenchman in the semi-finals in three sets 4–6, 6–0, 5–7.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, Swiss Indoors
Nadal participated in the Swiss Indoors ATP 500 at Basel and survived a scare in the first round against Lukáš Rosol by beating him in a comeback three-setter where Rosol was 2 points away from winning at the 2nd set at 5-4 on his own serve. In Nadal's next match against Grigor Dimitrov, Rafa battled back from a break down in the final set to defeat Dimitrov 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the Swiss Indoors quarter-finals. Nadal came back from a set and a break down to surpass big-serving Croatian Marin Čilić in three sets.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, Swiss Indoors
Nadal reached the second final in a hard-court tournament of the season when he beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets to set his first meeting for almost 2 years with long-time rival Roger Federer. However, in his first final at the Swiss Indoor, Nadal lost 3-6, 7-5, 3-6 to Federer.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season, Paris Masters
Nadal, seeded 7th, received a bye into the Round of 32 of the Paris Masters in Paris, France. Rafa rolled into the Round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-2 win, his 2nd in back-to-back weeks, over Lukáš Rosol, the 66th-ranked Czech, in just over an hour. Nadal then took on the big hitting South African Kevin Anderson and made another comeback from a set down and 5-6 down in the second set tie-break, saving a match point and closing out the match by breaking twice in the third set. Nadal faced world No.4 Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals and despite pushing both sets to a tiebreaker, Rafa lost the match 6–7(8–10), 6–7(7–9).


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Year in detail, ATP World Tour Finals
Rafael Nadal was seeded fifth in the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals in London and was drawn in the Ilie Năstase Group alongside Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka. He first played against Wawrinka and successfully crushed his nemesis in straight sets. Nadal continued his blistering resurgence of form by dominating a fellow Big Four, Murray, in straight sets to claim a semifinal spot in the ATP Finals. He then beat Ferrer in three sets, advancing to the semifinals with three wins. But he then lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Tournament schedule, Singles schedule
Nadal's 2015 singles tournament schedule is as follows:(Bolded letter indicates better or same result at the tournament)


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Tournament schedule, Singles schedule
1 The symbol (i) = indoors means that the respective tournament will be held indoors.


2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season, Yearly records, Head-to-head matchups
Rafael Nadal has a 61–20 (75.3%) match win-loss record in the 2015 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP Rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings was 7–11 (38.9%). The following list is ordered by number of wins:(Bolded number marks a top 10 player at the time of match, Italic means top 30)


2015 Railway budget of India
2015 Railway Budget of India refers to the Railway Budget of the Indian Railways in the fiscal year 2015–16. The budget was presented by the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Parliament on 26 February 2015.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
No new trains were announced. There were no passenger fare hikes announced. Passengers will be allowed to book tickets up to 120 days in advance, an increase from current 2 months. An initiative called the "Operation 5-minute" was announced which would allow ticket bearer passengers to acquire tickets within 5 minutes of entering a station. SMS alerts for the arrival and departure of trains will introduced. More general-class coaches would be added to select trains. A centrally managed "Railway Display Network" will be introduced at 2,000 stations to provide train information.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
200 stations will be brought under the "Adarsh Station Scheme" and will be given basic amenities like toilets, drinking water, catering services, waiting rooms etc. Under the "Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat" programme professional cleaning agencies will hired to keep trains and stations clean and train staff. 650 stations will be getting new toilets. 17,000 old toilets on trains will be replaced by bio-toilets in 2015, increasing the number of 17,388 existing ones. A 24/7 toll-free system will be introduced, 138 for the helpline and 182 for security issues. Mobile phone charging will be introduced in general-class coaches and the number of charging points in sleeper-classes will be increased.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
400 railways stations, including B-category stations, will be provided with Wi-Fi. CCTV cameras will installed in select trains and women's-only coaches of suburban trains to ensure the safety of women. Shatabdi trains would be provided with on-board entertainment. Train collision detection systems will be introduced on selected routes. The number of stations from which passengers can pay a combined train and road ticket will be increased. The numbers of trains in which passengers can order meals and disposable bedrolls at the time of booking tickets to be increased. Differently-abled and senior citizens will be able to book wheelchairs.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
1,38,000 km of tracks will be added in the next 5 years, an increase of 10%. 3,000 unmanned railway crossings will be removed and 917 over or under-bridges will be constructed to replace some of them. Four dedicated freight corridors will be complete in 2015 and 6608 km of tracks would be electrified. The feasibility study report of the Mumbai and Ahmedabad expected to be submitted in mid-2015. 9 semi-high speed corridors will be introduced with speed up to 200 km/h. The carriages for such trains will be built in India. A push for better connectivity in the North-East India and Jammu and Kashmir was also announced.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
Barcode and RFID tracking of parcels and freight carriages will be introduced. The fare of some freight goods were increased. The rate for urea was hiked by 10%, coal by 6.3%, iron ore and steel by 0.8%, cement by 2.7%, and grains and pulses by 10%. However, the rates for limestone, dolomite and manganese ore was reduced by 0.3%, and diesel oil by 1%.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
Satellite stations will be built around 10 major stations to reduce congestion and serve the suburbs. Four Railway Research Centres will be introduced in select four universities.


2015 Railway budget of India, Summary
The Indian Railway will raise ₹17,655 crore from the market through its two companies Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). This was a 47% increase from then current fiscal year's revised estimates of ₹12,045 crore. IRFC will try to raise ₹17,276 crore to invest in rolling stocks. RVNL will try to raise ₹376 crore by market borrowing. In the fiscal year 2014-15, according to the revised estimates, IRFC raised ₹11,772.6 crore, and RVNL raised ₹273 crore from the market. Overall  {{currency}} – invalid amount (help) crore will be spent on the Railways in the period 2015-19.


2015 Railway budget of India, Responses
After Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "Rail budget 2015 is a forward looking, futuristic and passenger centric budget, combining a clear vision and a definite plan to achieve it." Nitin Gadkari, the Transport Minister called the budget reformative. Smriti Irani, Human Resource Minister, praised the budget for considering women's safety.


2015 Railway budget of India, Responses
Rajeev Gowda, spokesperson of the Indian National Congress (INC) said the budget was leaning towards elites. Mallikarjun Kharge of INC said that budget did not clarify how revenues will generated to pay for the promises.


2015 Railway budget of India, Responses
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the budget had many lofty ideas but no action plan. He said that fares should have been cut due to fall in international oil prices. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed disappointment due to lack of any special package towards his state and pointed out that Odisha had a much lower rail density than the national average. He said his state was committed on providing free land and 50% of expenses towards railway projects.


2015 Railway budget of India, Responses
India's stock index SENSEX fell 261 points, a drop of 0.90%, after the announcements. Jyotinder Kaur, principle economist at HDFC bank, said that he was unsure of how the funds for the proposals will be gathered as the budget did not mention it.


2015 Rajshahi mosque bombing
The 2015 Rajshahi mosque bombing was a suicide attack which occurred on 25 December 2015 during Friday Prayers at an Ahmadi Muslim mosque in Mochmoli village, in Bagmara Upazila, in Rajshahi District, Bangladesh. One person was killed and at least between three and ten people were injured in the attack. The single fatality was the perpetrator of the attack.


2015 Rajshahi mosque bombing
An estimated 70 Ahmadi Muslim worshippers were inside the mosque during the Friday congregation prayers. Witness reports indicate that the bomber first entered the mosque and performed his prayers separately, at the rear end of the prayer hall. Afterwards, he moved forward close to other worshippers present at the mosque and placed his hands inside his pockets, after which the bomb exploded. The identity and motive of the perpetrator is yet unknown.


2015 Rajshahi mosque bombing, Responsibility
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, locals have stated earlier that members of the Wahhabi-inspired Ahl al-Hadith Andolon Bangladesh, which runs a neighbouring mosque, may be responsible for the attack. On the other hand, local police have blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for recent rise in violence, including the attack at the Ahmadiyya mosque.


2015 Rakhine United F.C. season
Rakhine United FC (Burmese: ရခိုင်ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း) is a professional football club based in Rakhine State that plays in the Myanmar National League. The Rakhine United Football Club changed its name to Rakhapura United in December 2010. The club's original home stadium was Waytharli Yinpyin (which can be found in Sittwe Township) which was later changed to Thuwanna YTC Stadium. Last season, Rakhapura United FC stood in 10th position. Rakhine United FC had the biggest win (7-2) in General Aung San Cup against Manaw Myay. Rakhine United FC has a Facebook page which can be found .


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
The 2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 42nd edition of the Japan Open, and part of the 500 Series of the 2015 ATP World Tour. It was held at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, from October 5–11, 2015.


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Doubles
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Michał Przysiężny were the defending champions, but Prysiężny chose not to participate. Herbert played alongside Nicolas Mahut, but lost in the quarterfinals to Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Gilles Simon.


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Doubles
Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo won the title, defeating Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah in the final, 7–6(7–5), 3–6, [10–7].


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Singles
Kei Nishikori was the defending champion, but lost to Benoît Paire in the semifinals.


2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Singles
Stan Wawrinka won the title, defeating Paire in the final, 6–2, 6–4.


2015 Raleigh mayoral election
The biennial election for the Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina was held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. The election was nonpartisan. Incumbent Mayor Nancy McFarlane won a third term in office.


2015 Rally America Championship
The 2015 Rally America championship was the eleventh season of the Rally America series. The Rally America series is currently the premiere stage rally championship in the United States. The championship was won by the team of David Higgins and Craig Drew, representing Subaru Rally Team USA in their #75 2015 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The team completed a perfect season, having won all 8 events. Higgins scored only six points shy of double the score achieved by championship runner's up, Subaru Impreza driver Piotr Fetela. Another Subaru driver, Lauchlin O'Sullivan was third in the championship at season's end.


2015 Rally America Championship
More than just Higgins, Subaru drivers dominated the championship with only two of 24 podium results not collected by Imprezas. Mitsubishi Lancer driver George Plsek was third at the Oregon Trail Rally and Ford Fiesta driver Ken Block was second at the New England Forest Rally.


2015 Rally America Championship
The victory was Higgins fifth consecutive title, overtaking Travis Pastrana to become the most successful driver in the history of Rally America.


2015 Rally America Championship, Championship standings
This table represents the championship standings from the 2015 Rally America season. Competitors that start each event get one point, competitors that finish get another point, and then further points are determined by placing order at the end of the event. 1st place receives 20 points, 2nd place receives 15 points, 3rd receives 12 points and so on. The table to the underneath shows how points are distributed.


2015 Rally America Championship, Championship standings
*In the above table, where noted, certain events and their points are dropped from the championship total. This is because there are only 6 allowed events in the national championship. This allows competitors that race in all 8 events to drop their two worst scores leaving them with 6 total races. In cases such as Higgins, there is little strategy involved since he won all 8 events and they all weighed equally on his score. In O'Sullivans case, however, eliminating the two worst races brings the score into balance. Without this measure, Piotr Fetela would have bested O'Sullivan because of total outright points. However, any starting and finishing points will count towards a competitors total, which is why Higgins' omissions are worth 2 points, for example.


2015 Rally Argentina
The 2015 XION Rally Argentina was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 23 and 26 April 2015. It marked the thirty-fifth running of the Rally Argentina, and was the fourth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship and WRC-2 seasons.


2015 Rally Argentina
The rally was won by Kris Meeke who, alongside his co-driver Paul Nagle, became the first British rally driver to win a WRC rally since 2002.


2015 Rally Australia
The  2015 Rally Australia was the tenth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship season. The rally was won by Sébastien Ogier.


2015 Rally Catalunya
The 2015 Rally Catalunya (formally the 51. RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada) was the twelfth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship. The race was held over four days between 22 October and 25 October 2015, and operated out of Salou, Catalonia, Spain. Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen won the race, his first win in the World Rally Championship.


2015 Rally Estonia
The auto24 Rally Estonia 2015 was the sixth running of the Rally Estonia and also the sixth round of the 2015 European Rally Championship season. The event was won by Alexey Lukyanuk & Alexey Arnautov who won 8 stages out of 16.


2015 Rally Finland
The  2015 Rally Finland (65th Neste Oil Rally Finland) was the eighth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship season, the top international rallying competition. It was held around Jyväskylä, Finland from 30 July to 2 August 2015. Jari-Matti Latvala won the rally, his third victory in his home country of Finland.


2015 Rally Italia Sardegna
The 2015 Rally Italia Sardegna, held on Sardinia, was the sixth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship season. Sébastien Ogier obtained its fourth victory in this season.


2015 Rally Italia Sardegna, Report
The rally began with a surprising Martin Prokop winning the Super Special Stage of Cagliari, followed by Dani Sordo (penalized for false start) and Mikkelsen. On the second day, new surprise with Hayden Paddon winning the first Friday 3 sections, and at the end of SS 4 led the rally with 25.3 s lead over Latvala and Ogier on 27.5. In the remaining stages, Paddon controlled the pace, but a slight touch on the last stage reduced the advantage  to only 8.8 s, now on Ogier who had exceeded his teammate. Dani Sordo was forced to leave after booting a wheel while Neuville suffered from problems such as turbo and handbrake and finished 6th. Meeke gave-up at SS 2 and Kubica did the same on the next.


2015 Rally Italia Sardegna, Report
It was necessary to reach the SS 17 and a spinning from Paddon for a VW take the rally lead. Ostberg was third, despite having traveled 20 km with a slow tyre leakage, having won 2 PEC before having new slow tyre leakage in the last SS.


2015 Rally Italia Sardegna, Report
In this day Mikkelsen (lost a wheel) Sordo (lack of gas pressure), Kubica (3 holes and a stuck gearbox) and Tanak (gearbox jammed when he was 3rd place) dropped out while there were many hardships to Neuville (whipping-top, turbo and steering problems and 40s penalty) and Latvala (hole and crashed shock absorber for 2 sections). At the end of the day Ogier had a huge advantage over Paddon (2m13s) while Ostberg was 3 to 3m25s and Neuville 4th at 3m57s.


2015 Rally Italia Sardegna, Report
For the last day the attention was concentrated in the fight for the last podium spot between Ostberg and Neuville. An outwit from Ostberg (dropped to 5) delivered the 3rd to the Belgian. The power-stage was completely dominated by VW: Ogier, Latvala and Mikkelsen.


2015 Rally Liepāja
The 2015 Rally Liepāja was the second round of the 2015 European Rally Championship season, held in Latvia between 6–8 February 2015.


2015 Rally Liepāja
The rally was won by Craig Breen and Scott Martin.


2015 Rally México
The 2015 Rally Guanajuato México was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 5 and 8 March 2015. It marked the twenty-ninth running of the Rally Mexico, and was the third round of the 2015 World Rally Championship and WRC-2 seasons.