Torque and HP for the umpteenth time

I don't know why supposedly intelligent gear-heads would state that "HP sells cars and torque wins races."

If this were true, F1 cars would have turbo-diesel engines and 40 speed gearboxes.

Perhaps the misunderstanding arises from the failure to understand the importance of the width of the power band and gearing. For race applications, you want as much torque to be developed as late as possible, for as long as possible. Why? Simply because horsepower is a function of both torque and RPM. So a high torque value at a high RPM will yield a higher HP figure. And if it's broad enough, you can make use of gearing to produce the desired torque at wheels.