Who wins the race for multiple valid blocks mined at the same time? From my understanding, a SHA256 hash is generated by a miner and if the hash is less than a specific value, it is passed to its peers.  That said, It's possible for multiple hashes to be created at very close to the same time.  If this happens, how is the "winner" determined?  I see this has happened a lot (multiple orphaned blocks).  

What can be done by the miner to see that their block wins the race, either honestly or through an attack?  The protocol stipulates that the block shall be recognized by which ever was received first.  Is it advantageous to set up peering with other miners?
When there's a fork, part of the network will mine to find the next block in one branch and part in the other branch. Whichever part finds the next block first will determine the winning branch.

A miner who finds a block will want to spread it widely and quickly. This makes sure there are many other miners who saw his block first, and thus a high probability that the next block will be found by one of those.