NASCAR Race Gets Checkered Response : Neighborhoods: The event brings excitement to the Sports Arena area, but some residents and business owners complain about noise, crowds and disruption.

You might think neighbors of the Los Angeles Sports Arena would be happy that the drone of Figueroa Street traffic will cease over the Labor Day weekend.

Their portion of Figueroa is closed to traffic through Tuesday, but most neighbors know what’s coming: NASCAR auto racing, accompanied by more than 100,000 spectators.

For the second straight year, racers from around the country will tear through a one-mile raceway built on a Sports Arena parking lot. Substitute the sound of Figueroa traffic with turbo engines roaring like a pack of lions as drivers reach speeds up to 120 mph.

Many in the predominantly Latino and African American community south of USC are excited about the Ford L.A. Street Race, which organizers and officials hope will become an annual tradition.

The three-day event begins at 7:30 a.m today and ends at 5 p.m. Monday. It will feature a variety of races with souped-up trucks, Indianapolis-style racers and stock cars.

Some neighbors and business owners, normally happy to be near the Sports Arena/Coliseum complex, say this is one event they would rather pass on.

“We have a lot of babies in here,” said Kim Meyers, 18, who lives across the street in the Gilbert Lindsay Manor apartments on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. “Those cars are too loud. It scares them.”

Ishai Jesse Hizami, who owns a nearby KFC restaurant and a hamburger stand, said area businesses will suffer. The stretch of Figueroa where his businesses are located was closed Friday.

“It’s already killed us,” he said, pointing to his empty restaurants, hidden behind a maze of concrete barricades. “Labor Day weekend used to be a good weekend for me. Do they want us out of business?”

City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the area, said he supports the race event. It will breathe life into an economically depressed area, he said.

Organizers said residents have been hired to work at concession stands and as security guards and ticket sellers. Race tickets will cost from $5 to $50.

Teenagers from the Los Angeles Urban League will work as pit crew members, organizers said. About 100 local students will be given free tickets and taxi rides to the event, part of an alternative fuel promotion sponsored by Ford Motor Co.

“We’re aware we’re in the heart of the inner city, so the whole idea was to bring a new audience to auto racing,” event spokesman Laurence Cohen said.

Ridley-Thomas said the Exposition Park museums, which will remain open during the event, also expect a boost in attendance from the race crowds.

Last year the race forced museums to close during the holiday, prompting complaints.

This year, Ridley-Thomas said, “the inconveniences have been minimized.”

Many disagreed.

“I’m going to have to put my pillow over my head,” said Nicole Hood, 17, anticipating the engine roars.

Hizami, who has owned his two restaurants for 23 years, worried about more than sleep.

“How can I do any business over here?” he shouted, over the screech of stock cars on a Friday trial run. “In all their excitement to have their race, they’re costing me a lot of business.”

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NASCAR Course

The one-mile course passes the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and circles the Los Angeles Sports Arena close to three popular museums in Exposition Park.

The following streets will be closed until 6 a.m. Tuesday:

* Figueroa Street between 39th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

* Hoover Street between N. Coliseum Drive and Martin Luther King.

* S. Coliseum Drive between Hoover and 39th.

Parking is available in several lots along Menlo Avenue, Vermont Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard and Exposition Boulevard.