ORLANDO, Fla. -- Graham Rahal views the National Guard sponsorship awarded to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the 2014 IndyCar Series season as a "game-changer" for the team on and off the racetrack.

Rahal, who enters his second season driving for the team co-owned by his father, was among the two dozen guests who spoke at INDYCAR Media Day at the Amway Center. The season kicks off March 30 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which Rahal won in 2008 and earned the pole position in '09.

"As a team, this elevates us to a whole new level us because it allows us to invest in the people, shock programs that we haven't had, that the Ganassis, Penskes, Andrettis of the world have," said Rahal, 25, who recorded a pair of top-five finishes in the Honda-powered No. 15 car in 2013. "I think it's going to help elevate us to a different level we haven't been in many years, probably since the team was a Ford factory team or funded by Miller or Shell in the old days. It kind of gets us back to that sort of level.

"Our engineering staff is completely new for this year across the board pretty much other than Eddie Jones has stayed on board. A lot of new faces. This is going to allow us to continue to invest in those sorts of people we need, the programs, that sort of thing. If you look at us last year, we never really did any development at all, never did any shock development.  Coming from Ganassi, where I was trying four different pairs of shocks every single weekend, it was completely different to come to this team where we never had an option. We ran the same ones every single track, every single race. Takes quite an investment. I think we're going to be to that point now."

Montoya battles himself first before rest of the field

Through a half dozen test sessions and a month before the season opens, Juan Pablo Montoya isn't looking at the depth of the field.

"Right now, I'm my biggest rival. I feel like a complete rookie right now," the 1999 CART champion and 2000 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race winner said. "Because I feel like I got to do a job, push myself.  It's good to have a guy like Will (Power) on the team that's really quick and gets the job done.  Helio (Castroneves) has a lot of experience. If I have my experience plus what they do, I think it's pretty good."

Montoya expects to win, and soon, but he doesn't expect the transition from stock cars to the IndyCar Series will be as smooth as his initial foray at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He led 167 of the 200 laps on the 2.5-mile oval in winning by 7.184 seconds over Buddy Lazier.

"The NASCAR one was one that it was like, 'Where the hell am I?' The cars were very different," he said. "There was a lot of movement. This is the opposite because in NASCAR the limit of the car is very easy. You can get to the limit of the car very easy. The big thing is you're driving it too hard. In IndyCar, you can't drive it hard enough, or at least I can't yet.  I'm leaving a lot on the table. I think that's the biggest thing."

Team Penske announced that Hawk Performance will be the primary sponsor on the No. 2 car driven by Montoya for three races.

Proud to represent Colombia

Sebastian Saavedra credits countryman Montoya with having an indirect hand in his path to reaching the IndyCar Series.

"I was only 8 years old when he won Indy 500. I was just starting my go-kart career then," said Saavedra, who embarks on his first season with KV AFS Racing. "It surely gave a little bit of, 'Hey, if you're a Colombian, you can make it happen.' Since then we've had a couple of contacts. I raced in the 500 miles (karting race) of Brazil. That was actually the first time we got to speak. I was 13.  Since then we never spoke again until the Race of the Stars at the end of the year, when we became a lot closer.

"I do accept that he's one of those guys that came through on a very important time of my life, thinking, 'Is this what I want to do for my whole career?' And it was, and of course, Roberto Guerrero was another guy that came through on my first Indy 500 (in 2010). I've been very blessed with very good people around."

Montoya, Saavedra and Andretti Autosport rookie Carlos Munoz give Colombia three drivers in the series, and each referenced a fourth (Carlos Huertas) as a possibility for the opener.

"A lot of people are going to follow IndyCar in Colombia," Munoz added. "People are starting to talk a lot that there are three Colombians in INDYCAR. When (Montoya) won the Champ Car title and the Indy 500, there were a lot of people following him. He was a symbol for me when I was a kid, an example for me and many Colombian drivers, to follow him. I have some pictures of him when I was small. He was at a go-kart race with his brother when I was small.  It's a strange feeling when you're small, you're looking at him as a big driver. But once I'm here, you just put your helmet on, everyone is the same."

Dixon rates 2013 series title as most enjoyable

Scott Dixon wasn't expecting to be in the championship hunt after finishing out of the top 10 in five of the 10 races to open the 2013 season. But a streak of three consecutive victories and a fourth of the season at Houston in October vaulted the New Zealander to his third title.

"I think the comeback for us as a team was huge," said Dixon, who has driven a Target Chip Ganassi Racing car since 2003. "The three in a row with Pocono and Toronto was the start of the swing. The strength that the team had throughout the remainder of the season, with the exception of some of the big ovals where we didn't have the speed.  All the road and street courses, we were qualifying in the top three or four every race.  For me, I think that was one of the biggest achievements was to keep strong.

"I think that's where this team is really good. When it's counted, they've pulled it out or been able to stay more consistent than some of the others. For me, each championship is so different because of the outside obstacles that you have. I think as sort of a pure enjoyment after the year, this one was probably my pick for the favorite."

Dixon is the active Indy car win leader with 33 (next up are Al Unser Jr.'s 34 and Bobby Unser's 35).

Bourdais ranks among the title contenders

Team Penske's Will Power, a three-time series championship runner-up, endorsed Sebastien Bourdais as a 2014 title contender. The four-time Champ Car champion won't dispute the forecast.

"I do feel like there is a lot of potential, unexplored potential," said Bourdais, who will drive the No. 11 KVSH Racing car. "Last year was an eye-opener when Tony (Kanaan) won the '500.' I think it's pretty much to the credit of KVSH. They worked very hard.  They have a great group of guys who really love racing, which is not so easy to find.  I could not put a strong enough point on saying that this group can win. 

"I don't know how long it's going to take before we do it, but only because competition is so difficult in IndyCar these days.  You look at the number of cars you need to beat to just get there, it's really hard.  But at the end of the day everybody has the same equipment pretty much.  It's just a matter of how you use it, how much work you put into it to get it right."

Bourdais closed the 2013 strong in a Dragon Racing car (four top-10 finishes in the final five races), and he's looking forward to the prospects this season.

"When I left Newman Haas (Racing) to go after that dream of mine in F1, there was no guarantee if I ever tried to come back getting a top seat," he said. "I knew once I left, I had taken a one-way ticket.  It's not that I couldn't buy a return, but nothing was guaranteed. For the longest time it just felt like it was not meant to be. Hopefully, I'm going to prove myself wrong."