NASCAR Sprint Cup leader and February's EDGE Performer of the Month

He wears an ever-present smile off the track, but on it, Kevin Harvick is a mean competitor and a man who knows how to win the really big races.

Now, thanks to a feisty and consistent start to his Sprint Cup campaign and a victory in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, Harvick has become the Castrol EDGE Performer of the Month in the Castrol Rankings, as he topped the scorers in February.

The 34-year-old American has taken full advantage of Richard Childress Racing's renewed Sprint Cup form this year, with a pair of second places at Fontana and Las Vegas adding to a top-10 finish at the season-opening Daytona 500.

Coupled with a Nationwide Series victory at Las Vegas in a Chevrolet run by his own Kevin Harvick Inc squad, he has moved up 10 places to 43rd in the Castrol Rankings. Given that he failed to make 'The Chase' last year, 2010 should prove to be a return to form for the former Rookie of the Year.

After receiving a go-kart as a present at the age of five, Harvick claimed seven US national and two grand national titles by the time he was 17. But he opted against the traditional transition into single-seaters, instead making his circuit racing debut in the NASCAR South West Series.

He claimed Rookie of the Year honours in 1995 and took the Grand National West Series crown outright three years later, enabling him to take a step into the NASCAR Truck Series for a limited campaign of three races in '99.

Impressed by Harvick's uncompromising, and hard-charging style, legendary team boss Richard Childress offered him a seat in his team in NASCAR's second-tier championship then known as the Busch Series. The result was eight victories in 24 months as Harvick took Rookie of the Year honours in 2000, and added the overall crown the following year.

By the time Harvick became champion, he was already a fully-fledged Cup race-winner, although his promotion to the big league came in tragic circumstances - the now 25-year-old taking the seat left empty following Dale Earnhardt's death in the Daytona 500.

Harvick's Cup form has fluctuated along with his team's since he impressively claimed ninth in the points, his first two wins, and Rookie of the Year title in 2001. His best seasons were 2006 and 2008 when he finished fourth overall.

He has amassed 11 wins so far during his Cup career plus 35 in the Nationwide Series [under its current and previous guises] and six in the Camping World [nee Craftsman] Truck Series.

A second Nationwide crown came in 2006 to add to the '01 title and he also won the IROC title in '02, plus the non-championship All-Star Challenge race ('07) and Budweiser Shoot-out ('08, '09).

With Childress's engine partnership with Earnhardt-Ganassi now starting to bear fruit, Harvick seems ready to challenge for the team's first big-league title since Earnhardt's 14 years ago. There may be 33 races to go, but someone's got to end Jimmie Johnson's run one day, and Harvick is determined it's going to be him.