Continued: Former champion Tony Kanaan welcomes more competition in IndyCar

"We're just working, trying to understand what everybody wants, the goals for the team, what we want to achieve, what we worked over the winter that we can simulate back to the track," Kanaan said.

"Obviously I have a bigger responsibility on the team," said the 33-year-old Kanaan. "They're probably relying on me more than I'm relying on them. But they're very experienced. Danica and Marco can get the job done, and Hideki's learning very quickly. I lost my wing man, Dario, so it's definitely a transition time, but I don't think it's a big deal."

Kanaan won a series-best five races last season but finished third in points behind Franchitti and Scott Dixon.

"The last five years, I've been in championship hunt until the last race, so I'm not expecting any less," Kanaan said. "I'm fully aware we're going to have more teams, more cars ... more good teams, and the competition probably is going to get even higher. But nothing has changed from the years past for me. Obviously, I feel confident I can be one of the championship contenders."

Franchitti and former Indy winner Sam Hornish Jr. are the latest among a number of drivers who have left the IRL for NASCAR, a trend Kanaan said should change with the unification of open-wheel racing.

"A big issue has always been the split, saying, 'Well, people can make more money in NASCAR, NASCAR is more popular,"' Kanaan said. "But we're a completely different product. If you go back 15, 16 years ago, we're much bigger than them, and suddenly with the split they jumped so far ahead.

"I'm not trying to compare ourselves right now, because I don't think it's even possible," he said. "But I think you're going to see a lot less guys trying to leave now because it's back to where it was in the past."

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