All eyes on Alonso in a wide-open Indianapolis 500 field

INDIANAPOLIS — One of IndyCar’s all-time greats will lead the field to the green flag at Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Alonso has never raced on an oval before, never raced an Indy car and hasn’t done a rolling start in 20 years — and that was in a go-kart.

The two-time Formula One champion peppered race director Brian Barnhart with questions for 15 minutes Friday before riding off through Gasoline Alley on his skateboard.

Alonso has enjoyed every minute at Indy, but he’s not letting the hype around his quest to win racing’s version of the Triple Crown — he’s already won at Monaco in F1 and would like to someday run Le Mans — distract him from his mission.

There is still no emotion.

[...] Monday, there are no emotions allowed to enter your mind, Alonso said.

The New Zealander had the fastest qualifying effort in 21 years to win the pole, and he’d like to drink the victor’s milk for the second time in his career.

“In my generation, he’s the best,” said Tony Kanaan, the 2013 winner of the Indy 500 and Dixon’s teammate.

Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, veteran of the Penske camp, was fastest on Carb Day on Friday.

Team Penske has four of the top five drivers in the IndyCar standings, has won the past three races of the season, and added two-time 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya to its lineup for Sunday.

With no clear favorite and questions about Honda’s reliability, Penske’s power and Alonso’s lack of experience in this race, there could be a surprise winner in a race Roger Penske believes could be even more exciting than last year’s 100th running.