Neither side threatened early on as Arthur Okonkwo did well to ensure Brad Potts – making his first start of the campaign – was unable to complete a clever move by the visitors.
But an uneventful contest sprang to life after Josh Windass’s deflected strike went over the crossbar.
Daniel Iversen quickly denied Broadhead and Kieffer Moore before Mads Frokjaer-Jensen shot straight at Okonkwo at the other end.
The majority of the 10,616 spectators thought the hosts had taken the lead just before the half-hour mark when Okonkwo’s quick throw released Broadhead, but Wrexham’s record signing could only widen the effort after a mesmerizing run from the halfway line.
But Broadhead was clinical six minutes before the break as Moore crossed from the right to pick out his fellow Wales international who guided his header into the bottom corner of Iversen’s net.
Wrexham were dealt a major blow in the dying seconds of the first half as top scorer Moore was forced off the field through injury, with Sam Smith replacing the imposing frontman at the break.
The Lilywhites improved after the restart as Thierry Small tested Okonkwo with a driven shot, although Windass curled over soon after as Wrexham became increasingly reliant on counter-attacks.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side missed a glorious chance to make it 1-1 on the hour mark as Devine could only volley into the side netting after being left unmarked from Ben Whiteman’s corner.
Iversen had to be alert to substitute Smith’s punch, with Callum Doyle missing the target with a header from the resulting corner.
Parkinson’s side were inches away from doubling their lead in the 74th minute as George Thomason’s looping cross was headed against the post by Smith.
But two substitutes combined to make it 2-0 for Wrexham when George Dobson split the Preston defense before Rathbone coolly slipped past Iversen 13 minutes from time.
Devine set up a tense finish with a shot into the bottom corner but, despite a nervy finish, Wrexham held on for an eighth league win of the season to inflict just a fifth league defeat on Preston in 2025-26.
