Kanaan returned with Andretti Green Racing for 2009 in the No. 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR5-Honda Indy V8 HI7R with additional sponsorship from Dr. Pepper, Nestlé Pure Life and Oscar Mayer. At the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at Streets of St. Petersburg Kanaan started 3rd and finished 5th. Kanaan then had 3rd-place finishes at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the Streets of Long Beach and the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway. Kanaan took the points lead after Kansas (the first time Kanaan led the standings since winning the championship following the 2004 Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway). At the Indianapolis 500 Kanaan qualified in 6th place and in the race was running in 3rd place when the driveshaft failed, causing him to lose control of his car due to the steering being incapacitated, hitting the turn 3 wall in an impact that was 175 G's. Kanaan finished in 27th place. The race was the first time that Kanaan failed to lead the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan suffered bruised ribs in the accident. Despite the injuries Kanaan did not miss any races during the season nor did he need any relief during any race. At the following race the ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile Kanaan started 3rd and led for 25 laps only to suffer an engine failure after 132 laps, finishing in 18th place. At the Rexall Edmonton Indy at Rexall Speedway Kanaan had a pit fire after completing 34 laps and finished in 21st. Kanaan's best finish after Indianapolis was a 3rd-place finish at the Meijer Indy 300 presented by Red Baron and Edy's at Kentucky Speedway. Kanaan finished 6th in points with 386 points.