Fly in through Ontario (CA) airport. It's closer, less people traffic, less vehicle traffic, and not called LAX. Southwest has some good routes from Tampa that transfer in Vegas.

That's probably the Baldwin Park Marriott. If they give you a choice, go with the Courtyard Marriott in Monrovia. Just as close, and a much better area.

If you're there on a thursday night, they usually have a test and tune at the 1/8th mile track, which is in the same complex. It's one of of the only strips in the LA area, so all of the cool stuff comes out. Everything is open for you to check out. I saw Abel Ibarra do a partial pass at 4.7x in his RX8 there once.