Hamlin vows to ignore social media negativity

SONOMA, Calif. — You’ve been warned, Denny Hamlin haters: He’s taking the bait no more on social media.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who has more than 781,000 Twitter followers, delivered some social media advice during a media session Friday at Sonoma Raceway. “I’ve been very good this year on not replying to mean people,” Hamlin said. “And y’all should do the same. I’m making a [plea] right now to every driver, every team owner, every NASCAR executive and every media member — stop replying to people that make nonsense comments.

“They have 16 followers. Don’t give them your 100,000 as their stage. No one will ever see their comment.”

Hamlin appears determined not to engage with a negative storyline or the mean tweet.

“Just brush it by,” Hamlin said. “Talk about the positives. And I’m not a positive guy.”

So how has he done it?

“You just scroll by it,” Hamlin said. “Forget it. That person doesn’t exist. They’re an admirer who lost their way.”