It's not even clear the USA "won" the space race. America was first (and last) to land men on the moon, but arguably the USSR had far more space-related "firsts" than the US.
Landing on the moon only become the end-all-be-all when the US achieved it and the USSR could not (for various reasons).
Landing on the moon only become the end-all-be-all when the US achieved it and the USSR could not (for various reasons).