Kyle Busch is a rare non-factor

INDIANAPOLIS -- Talk about a change of pace: Kyle Busch was seldom a factor in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday.

Busch, the hottest driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year with seven wins, started 19th in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and finished 15th.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” Busch said. “It was a top 15 and we’ll go on.”

Busch, like many drivers, said the tire problems that prompted NASCAR to call repeated caution periods at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made race strategy difficult to plan.

Regardless, he said race winner Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, a four-time Brickyard 400 winner, “had the field covered today.”

Busch still leads the Cup standings by a comfortable 253 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 12th.

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Allmendinger solid

Another Toyota driver, Californian A.J. Allmendinger, finished 10th for his best finish since moving to the Cup series from open-wheel racing last year.

Allmendinger, of Red Bull Racing, struggled just to qualify at many races in 2007 and early this season. But he has now had three top-15 finishes this year.

“We were no worse than 10th all day and when you can run that good -- and just starting to run with these guys every weekend -- is a lot of fun,” he said.

Allmendinger, 26, praised crew chief Jimmy Elledge for “great calls all day” that kept him in the front group despite the race’s tire problems.

“I was praying that the right rear [tire] was not going to blow out,” he said. “There were a couple runs where I could really feel it vibrating.”

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Martin struggles

The normally unassuming Mark Martin had made a bold prediction that he would win Sunday’s race and he started on the front row after qualifying second.

But after the veteran was among those who suffered tire problems early in the race, Martin struggled to keep his No. 8 Chevrolet near the front and finished 11th.

“Nobody is to blame, as everybody did the best they could,” Martin said about the tire situation. “We probably didn’t have anything for Jimmie Johnson, so I wasn’t going to be able to back up my prediction, but we had a lot better car than where we finished.”

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Fast laps

Jeff Burton, who finished ninth, passed Bill Elliott as the all-time leader for laps completed at the Brickyard 400 with 2,365. . . . The race also set a record for the most lead changes, 26, and for the most laps run under caution, 52. . . . Defending winner Tony Stewart, who finished 23rd, extended his record of consecutive laps completed in the race to 1,601.

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james.peltz@latimes.com