Dario Franchitti's injuries were enough for him to announce his retirement from racing. This meant that his car at Target Chip Ganassi Racing (the team that had won the series championship each year from 2008 to 2013, except 2012, with Franchitti and Scott Dixon) needed a replacement driver. Ryan Briscoe, Alex Tagliani (who drove in Franchitti's place at Fontana and also did off season testing in the car), Sergio Pérez, Sam Hornish, Jr., Oriol Servia, Justin Wilson and Franchitti's cousin Paul di Resta were all considered for the car at some point. Kanaan was eventually named to drive the car with Briscoe moving into the car originally intended for Kanaan (Briscoe had previously driven the car at the 2013 Indianapolis 500). In 2014 Kanaan drove the No. 10 Target Dallara DW12-Ilmor-Chevrolet Indy V6 with additional sponsorship from GE Reveal, Lexar, Energizer, Suave Professionals for Men, TNT Energy Drink, Glad and Huggies. At the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the Streets of St. Petersburg Kanaan started in 2nd place and finished in 6th place. Over the next five races Kanaan's best start was a 9th at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and his best finish in these races was a 9th place at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park after starting from 23rd (last) place. At the Indianapolis 500 Kanaan qualified in a disappointing 16th place in a forgettable Indianapolis 500 for Chip Ganassi Racing that had teammates Scott Dixon qualify 11th (he had the 3rd fastest speed in the field but had to start in the position due to not being fast enough to qualify for the Firestone Fast Nine after the first qualifying day), Charlie Kimball qualify 26th, Briscoe qualify 30th and Sage Karam (in a car co-owned by both Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Kingdom Racing) qualify 31st. On Carb Day practice (the final practice prior to the race) Kanaan and Dixon had the two fastest speeds for the session at 227.383 and 227.773 miles per hour each. In the race Kanaan was moving up through the field with various other cars who were quick but had a poor starting position, such as Ryan Hunter-Reay and Townsend Bell. On lap 66 Kanaan ran out of fuel but managed to make it back to his pit stall. The pit stop took 43 seconds and dropped Kanaan down the running order. On lap 73 Kanaan returned to the pit lane with a broken starter. Kanaan's crew managed to repair the car, but Kanaan went down 18 laps and was out of contention for the rest of the race. Kanaan would eventually finish in 26th place with 177 laps complete (23 laps down). The finishing results were also a disappointment for the rest of Chip Ganassi Racing with Briscoe finishing 18th with all 200 laps complete after being nearly taken out in a crash in turn 2 of the first lap, Dixon finished 29th due to a crash on lap 168 and Kimball finished 31st due to a crash on lap 150 (the race had been caution-free to that point). The only positive for the team was rookie Karam having a respectable race to finish in 9th place. At the next race of the season, the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Race #1 at Belle Isle State Park, Kanaan managed to finish in 3rd place after starting in 8th place. In the second race Kanaan managed to get a 9th-place finish. At the following race, the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, Kanaan started in 3rd place and on lap 242 of 248 the caution came out for an engine fire on Takuma Sato's car. By that point in the race there were only six cars on the lead lap: Ed Carpenter, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud, Dixon, Kanaan and Will Power. All of the drivers, except leader Carpenter and 2nd place Montoya, pitted for new tires. On lap 246 the race was restarted and Kanaan finished 6th. Kanaan was poised to finish in 3rd place at the next race, the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Race #1 at NRG Park, when on the next-to-last lap Graham Rahal in 4th place rear-ended Kanaan's car, dropping him to a 13th-place finish, Rahal was penalized from 3rd place to 11th place. Kanaan finished in 10th place after starting 8th in the second race. At the next race, the Pocono IndyCar 500 at Pocono Raceway, Kanaan started in 8th place and led for a race-high 78 of 200 laps after battling with Team Penske teammates Montoya, Power and Hélio Castroneves. Kanaan's team then put Kanaan on a different strategy than the rest of the leaders that would only work if a caution came out late in the race. The race only had six laps of caution due to a single-car crash by Rahal on lap 159. Kanaan and Josef Newgarden, who was attempting the same strategy after struggling for most of the race, had to pit on laps 196 and 194. This resulted in an 11th-place finish with Newgarden in 10th. At the following race, the Iowa Corn Indy 300 at Iowa Speedway Kanaan started in 2nd place to teammate Dixon. In the race Kanaan led for 247 of 300 laps and it looked as if Kanaan would get his first victory of the season when on lap 282 the caution came out for a crash by Montoya. During the caution the cars of Carpenter, Hunter-Reay, Rahal and Newgarden all made pit stops for fresh tires. On the restart on lap 291 Hunter-Reay and Newgarden quickly moved up through the field with Hunter-Reay taking the lead on lap 299. Kanaan would also lose 2nd place to Newgarden. At the next race, the Honda Indy Toronto Race #1 at Exhibition Place Kanaan started in 5th place and finished in 3rd place. In the second race Kanaan started from 9th place (the starting lineup was determined by drivers points following the first race) and nearly won his first race of the season. On lap 51 a crash occurred that involved several cars and the race was immediately stopped. The race was also a timed race with approximately 4:00 minutes left in the race Kanaan was in 3rd place behind Mike Conway, who had older slick tires, and Wilson, who had older rain tires. On the restart Kanaan was held up by the slower car of Wilson along with several lapped cars. Kanaan would eventually finish in 2nd place, his best finish since winning the 2013 Indianapolis 500. At the following race, the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Kanaan started in 3rd place and crashed out on the first lap of the race and collected Marco Andretti. Kanaan finished the race in 21st place. At the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers at the Milwaukee Mile. Kanaan started in 2nd place and finished in 3rd place after leading for 14 laps. At the following race, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway, Kanaan started in 8th place and finished in 13th place. At the season-ending MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway Kanaan started in 7th place. Kanaan led for 64 laps, including the final 54 laps, to win his first race since the 2013 Indianapolis 500. Kanaan finished 7th in points with 544 points. This was the highest position that Kanaan finished in the final point standings since the 2011 season.