Marlin: Vegas is now a different place.

Sterling Marlin has said that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which hosts the third round of the Nextel Cup this weekend, is now a totally different place to the circuit where he claimed his ninth career win back in 2002.

Although still a 1.5 mile oval north of Vegas, the circuit has undergone a series of dramatic changes and is adjusting to new rules that NASCAR will enforce for the UAW-Chrysler 500 on Sunday.

"It's like being at a whole different place," Marlin, the pilot of the #14 Waste Management Chevrolet, said. "They've added a ton of banking, resurfaced the track and made teams go a whole lot faster. It will be interesting to see how things shake out this weekend."

In addition to the physical changes to the track, NASCAR has mandated a smaller fuel-cell and a new tyre compound for Sunday's race - changes which Marlin predicts will lead to an exciting event and an unpredictable finish.

"When we tested in Vegas earlier this year it was incredibly fast--some teams thought it was too fast," he said. "But it's a lot of fun. It will be interesting to see how things work once there are 43 cars on the track running side-by-side and going that fast.

"We've had stronger performances this year than our results indicate. Our race cars have been good-- we just haven't gotten the finishes we deserve. A strong finish with our Waste Management Chevy would get us moving in the right direction and I know we're capable of it."