They have been runners-up many times, including back-to-back finals defeats in 2014 and 2015, but there is a quiet confidence in the team that belies their ranking.
Team manager Cameron Jurgens has put in a massive effort over the last four seasons to strengthen the organisation behind the Warriors, and the team itself.
This weekend's team is a mix of enthusiasm and experience.
Zane Dykstra will lead the team after an impressive Teams Champs debut last season and will be joined by his cousin Elias Dykstra, another who caught the eye last year.
Dylan Marshall was another impressive debutant last season, making an immediate impact when rolling veteran teams racer Peter Rees (Gisborne Giants) on just the second lap of his first race.
Max Holloway and Scott Duncan bring experience to the team, with Duncan in particularly strong form at the Huntly Teams event earlier in the season, the only warmup the Warriors have had.
Up-and-comer Kaelin Mooney completes the squad as sixth driver, with Maddie Wise unavailable because he and partner Tayla are expecting their first child any day now.
With 12 teams entered this year, the format reverts to four groups of three teams, with the Warriors drawing defending champions Rotorua Rebels and the Auckland Allstars in Group D.
Rotorua were impressive last year, having built up a team over several seasons as the Warriors are in the process of doing.
The Warriors lost narrowly to Auckland on the second night last season, although they were hampered when Elias Dykstra was sent to the infield from the grid for a time violation, meaning they had to start the damaged car of Shane Kells.
The Allstars are strengthened by the inclusion of former 1NZ Randal Tarrant and Hayden Hart this season.
Group A will feature a clash between the Wellington Wildcats and Kihikihi Kings, although the Kings are missing 1NZ Asher Rees, another whose partner is expecting a child this weekend.
Group B features the Gisborne Giants, who should be too strong for their East Coast rivals, the Baypark Busters and Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes.
Group C has been described as the Group of Death, with the Palmerston North Panthers, Canterbury Eagles and Stratford Scrappers going head to head.
In the early days of Teams Champs, battles between the Panthers and the Scrappers produced some of the most brutal teams racing ever seen, with no quarter given or asked for.
With the group format, the group winner will advance to the top tier, and the group runner-up to the second tier.
On finals night, a team from the second tier can finish as high as third, but only teams from the top tier can race in the grand final.
Teams racing is exciting and unpredictable, and every year the form book goes out the window at least once.
In what is shaping up as one of the most even draws for many years, the Warriors will leave nothing in the tank in their quest to record their first event win.
Determination, teamwork and preparation are one thing, but the winning team will need some luck in the running, and a weekend largely free of mechanical dramas.
If the stars align in the Warriors' favour, it will be one of the most popular victories in the 40-plus-year history of the event, and the celebrations will be long and loud.
But first things first; let's go teams racing.
