Ryan Preece has won his share of tour-type Modified race at New Smyrna Speedway.

He added the John Blewett III Memorial 76 to trophy case Thursday night as racing resumed in the 51st World Series of Asphalt Racing. The Berlin, Connecticut, driver held off Matt Hirschman in the closing laps of the extra-distance event on the high-banked half-mile to continue his quest for a third straight World Series crown.

“The level of competition right now is really high and this is the strongest field New Smyrna has had in a really long time,” Preece said. “It’s a good accomplishment, and now we have to get back to work and get the car ready for Friday night.”

Rain washed out racing Wednesday and pushed the annual tribute to the former Modified driver from New Jersey to Thursday.

Preece was chasing his first win of the week after he had finishes of second and fourth in the first two 35-lap races of World Series.

“We’ve taken buts and pieces from every single night we’ve raced,” Preece said. “It’s been putting a notebook together; what we need in the race car to get these tires to last long enough to win a race.”

The 2012 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and NASCAR Next alum took the lead from Ron Silk with 13 laps to go and then held off a charge from Hirschman to score the win.

Silk settled for third, followed by Justin Bonsignore and Jimmy Blewett.

Timmy Solomito, Richie Pallai Jr., Chuck Hossfeld, JR Bertuccio and Calvin Carroll rounded out the top 10.

The week will conclude tonight for the tour-type Modifieds with the Richie Evans Memorial 100. The racing will stream live on FansChoice.TV.

Preece has won the race the last two years. He holds a five-point lead over Hirschman for the week’s title and seven over Silk.

“When you come down here, it’s a long haul, it’s a long week, and you come down here to win races,” said Preece. “We got one (tonight), but the one everybody comes out for is the Richie Evans. I’m definilty looking forward to it.”