I would bet Hamlin & Waltrip do significantly (5+ places) better than those predictions.
I'll stand by my Mikey out of the top 35 prediction. He's a 3rd-rate driver that's now in 5th-rate equipment. BDR may have given him their "best" stuff (relatively-speaking, they haven't had support from Dodge for a couple years now) had he not formed his alliance with Doug Bawel to get his 5-race guarantee, but between that and losing big in their lawsuit against Dodge (DaimlerChrysler will be getting its $6.5 million request for breach of contract; more on that shortly), they're going to do everything they can to keep the #22 above water until Toyota rides to the rescue, even if that means sinking the #55. I'll note that Mikey was the slowest guy in Vegas, and he wasn't quite the slowest guy there while he was with DEI.
Hamlin was a bit harder to place. On one hand, the best JGR equipment is better than the best DEI or RCR equipment. On the other, they can't seem to run more than one top team; and the top dog is Stewart.