After Ron quit auto racing, it was just a few years later before he found his new passion.  It was during the "Blizzard of 1967" when Ron bought his first snowmobile (a 1967 Rupp 300cc 16hp).  Over the years Ron would sell his snowmobile every couple of years and upgrade to a newer one. 

Ron loved to tinker and tune his snowmobile to get a few more mph than the next fellow.  Since Ron was only about 5'7" and about 125 lbs (due to his life long struggle with Crohn's Disease), he had a definite weight advantage that gave him a couple mph more than others would have on the same snowmobile.

In 1986, I asked my father, "Tell me Dad, how fast have you driven your snowmobile?"  Dad looked at me with a look that seemed to say "don't tell your mother" as he told me in a soft voice and a slight grin "183 Km/Hr."  Since that was in kilometers per hour, that converts to 114 miles / hour!!!

Very sadly, it was in Feb 1987, Ron was the lead snowmobile of a small group of his friends in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The snow conditions were very poor, so he was driving only 25-30 mph.  A small group of other snowmobilers (heading in the opposite direction) were on the wrong side of the road.  When Ron (who was leading, as he always did) came around a blind, right-hand curve -- the head-on collision occurred.

In spite of Ron wearing the top-of-the-line, full-face-shield racing helmet, he suffered a severe closed-head trauma.  Even under the best of medical care, Ron remained in a coma for 1 year and 9 days, until his eventual death in March 1988.  He has been missed by all his family, and thousands of friends and people who knew him.

Ron thoroughly enjoyed the sport and thrill of snowmobile racing.  No one knew the trails through the woods, like Ron Lancto did.  Ron also had an internal compass, and if he ever did get "lost" it was very rare, and it didn't last very long.

The photo below was developed in March 1979, so this photo was most likely taken in the winter of 1978-79.  Rupp had long went out of business, and Ron switched to Yamaha snowmobiles.