Winning Run[a] is a first-person arcade racing simulation game developed and published by Namco in December 1988 in Japan, before releasing internationally the following year.

The player pilots a Formula One racer, with the objective being to complete each race in first place, while avoiding opponents and other obstacles, such as flood-hit tunnels, pits and steep chambers.

The game received a favorable critical reception, with many complimenting its impressive 3D graphics for the time, alongside its Formula One racing realism.

[2] Unlike previous cabinets of its type, that commonly used hydraulics, Winning Run instead used a series of electric rams and runners to make the machine move, which has been cited as giving off a more realistic sense of driving.

[6] In Japan, Game Machine listed it on their March 1, 1989 issue as being the most-successful upright arcade cabinet of the month.

[1] In North America, Winning Run was successful in early 1990,[15] topping the RePlay arcade earnings chart for new video games in March 1990.

In the March 1989 issue of Computer and Video Games, Clare Edgeley and Julian Rignall gave it a positive review, favorably comparing it to Atari's Hard Drivin'.

They labeled Winning Run's graphics as "simply stunning", concluding that it is "easily the best racing game yet seen – it's thoroughly realistic and totally exhilarating".

[1] Advanced Computer Entertainment labeled it as superior to Hard Drivin', stating that it usurps the title's graphics and gameplay, and concluding it was one of the best racing arcade games on the market.

This game instead used a sit-down cabinet as opposed to the one used in the original Winning Run, bearing a resemblance to the ones used for Namco's own Final Lap three years prior.