A simple fix may be moving the race invites into a smaller bar at the top of the screen and use a different button other than the up d-pad to enter or cancel the event. Maybe the Y or X buttons for X-box and equivalent while inside the garage.
The only time this wont work is in the wrap editor.... Although about 99% of the time, if I am editing a wrap, I am in no hurry to quickly exit to join a race. - in this case, I would just have the pop up smaller to tell the user to back out of the wrap editor to be able to join the race/event/playlist.
Exactly my thought, a small bar at the top of the screen would be better.
