Torque as it's related to time is where "horsepower" comes into play. If you were only looking at torque, and not torque over time, then any wheezy old 5.0L motor with optimised gearing should be able to keep up with an F1 motor. This will clearly never happen.
Mazda rotaries are another example of low torque motors aking lots of horsepower. You will never see an RX7 towing a caravan, because they simply don't have enough torque, but I've seen enough 9 and 10 second rotary rockets at my local dragstrip to appreciate what sort of horsepower they can produce. Same deal with them - LOTS and LOTS of rpm..... At 11,000rpm they make big horsepower.
Back to your lb/ lb/ft theory:
2003 V6 Mustang 220lb/ft weight 3150lb
1992 13B RX7 Racecar 220lb/ft weight 3150lb (with ballast
)
Same torque to weight ratio. Both cars geared for maximum performance. Mustang peak torque at 2750rpm, Mazda at 9000rpm.
Mustang 16 second 1/4 mile?
Mazda 11 second 1/4 mile....
Same torque to weight, but because the Mazda can make that torque more quickly (higher rpm), it makes more power, and therefore runs a MUCH quicker 1/4 mile.