How do Torque and HP differ?

I think Moper hit the nail on the head of my question...

My HP and Torque were the same at 4400 RPM 272 HP and 272 Ft Lbs. At 2860 RPM the Torque was 257 while the HP was 140. RPM has everything to do with the gearing of the trans, rear end gears, and size of tires. The gearing of the car has everything to do with how quickly you can go from 0-100, thus the more gears you have the quicker your car can go, provided they are synchronized correctly with the engine's output. If I had a 6 speed, while someone else had a 3 speed, and both top gears were set to top out the engine at 100 mph, the 6 speed would definitely win.

It seems to me that Torque is required to "manufacture" HP with the right gears. You can't go anywhere without HP, but you can't get HP without Torque. If you ask me, gears are the racer's best friend, behind an engine with a lot of Torque. I think, and this is just me, but I think RPM's do have a lot to do with HP, while the size of the motor, CID, Bore, Stroke, Intake, Cam, Air/Fuel provided, all go into how much Torque it can produce, how quickly you get that Torque to the ground is gearing.

I could be wrong, but seeing how the dyno printout suggests that it is the gearing that manufactures HP out of Torque by converting RPM into rubber burning power, I think RPM + Torque manufacture HP too.

I don't know how everyone else's car is, but every car I have been in accelerates quicker the faster the RPM's, up to a point. After the engine can't breathe any quicker, HP and Torque fall off. I think the trick is to get the gearing to match the breathing capabilities of the engine, like low RPM Dual Plane vs Higher RPM Single Plane intakes. If the gears match so as to maximize the breathing of the motor, I believe you will find the quickest, fastest car is the one that breathes the easiest with the right gearing. IMHO But I could be wrong...