KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Dan Wheldon has vowed not to repeat his home country’s mistakes.

Shortly after watching England’s World Cup soccer team play passively in a loss to Portugal, the IndyCar driver promised to not do the same today at the Kansas Lottery Indy 300.

“I’m not quite sure on their strategy, but I’m going to do the opposite,” Wheldon said. “From lap one tomorrow, I’m going to attack and see if it works out for me.”

The aggressiveness worked out for him Saturday, as the Englishman took out his fan frustrations by qualifying for the pole position in today’s Indy Racing League race. With a speed of 213.536 mph, his time of 25.6257 seconds topped Sam Hornish Jr. by .196 seconds.

“When Dan ran a 213.5, we thought we weren’t even going to be close to that,” Hornish said. “We missed on the gears a little bit, which kept us from getting the pole, but we’re still pretty happy to be on the front row.”

Wheldon currently sits fourth in the IRL standings, 35 points behind leader Helio Castroneves.

He won the season-opening event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 26 and has four top-five finishes in his seven starts.

Dan Wheldon of Emberton, England, watches the tally board as other drivers try to bump him from the pole position. Wheldon will sit on the pole today at the Kansas Speedway.

“The fact is, if I want to win a championship, I’ve got to go for it,” Wheldon said. “It’s no good trying to be consistent and conservative and stuff like that. I’ve got to lead every possible lap that I can, and I’ve got to do what’s right for me to win the championship.”

Wheldon was second at Kansas Speedway last year, finishing .120 seconds behind winner Tony Kanaan. At the time, it was the sixth-closest race in IRL history.

The pole is the first for Wheldon this year and the third of his IndyCar Series career. His last pole position came in April 2004 at Motegi, Japan.

“With my luck, the way it’s been, I’m not going to get too excited,” Wheldon said. “We’re not getting points for the pole. We need to make sure we win tomorrow.”

Hornish finds himself not only second in today’s race but also runner-up in the latest point standings. He trails Castroneves by five points, but says he won’t take it any easier on his Marlboro Team Penske teammate come race time.

“I’m not going to let him have anything,” Hornish said. “There’s not team orders. Whoever’s got the best car on that day can win.”

Castroneves qualified fourth, registering a second lap speed of 212.472 mph and time of 25.7540.

“We feel comfortable with the race car, and I’m really looking forward to the race,” Castroneves said. “We’ll just have to play it smart and hopefully we’ll be able to get our first victory here at Kansas.”

Scott Dixon will start alongside him in row two, qualifying third with a time of 25.7466 seconds.

Defending race champion Kanaan had the 13th-best time at 26.1358 seconds.

After taking the pole at Kansas Speedway last year, Danica Patrick qualified in 12th.

“The car was all right, which is an improvement from the last race,” Patrick said. “We certainly aren’t a pole car like we were a year ago.”

Patrick is still adjusting to a new car after her Rahal Letterman Racing team made the switch to a Dellara model in mid-season.

“We knew it would be a case of taking a step back to take a step forward,” Patrick said. “The step back hasn’t been a lot of fun, but in the long run these tough times will pay off for us.”

As for Wheldon, he knows that to repeat as points champion he has some ground to make up.

His comeback road begins in Kansas.

“Right now, I’m in a position where I can’t give an inch,” Wheldon said. “I need to maximize everything that I have to put myself back in the position to win again.”