Johanna Long hasn't retired, but she's not sure what her career holds moving forward.

Long made 42 starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series but none since last summer, when she competed in a one-off entry at Iowa Speedway for Obaika Racing. The majority of her appearances came with ML Motorsports, where she was mentored by former champion David Green in 2012 and 2013.

That team shut down before the 2014 season and the 24-year-old has been searching for opportunities ever since.

"It's just the money factor," Long told RACER over the weekend. "It's just a matter of finding the money needed to take the next step forward. I feel like we did a great job and had some good runs with what ML Motorsports provided us but we just needed an extra influx of cash and it never came.

"There were so many people that believed me over the past several years but no one with the money needed to jump-start an effort like you need in NASCAR."

If this is the end, Long will be remembered as an underrated and underutilized driver who exceeded expectations over the course of her career. She won the prestigious Snowball Derby Super Late Model race in 2010, driving for her family team against the likes of Kyle Busch Motorsports, Bill Elliott Racing and Wauters Motorsports.

Long always qualified well and ran near the front during the opening stages of an event but was typically shuffled to the back once the first round of pit stops had taken place. The most memorable moment of her XFINITY career came at Richmond in spring of 2013, when she raced her way around Kyle Busch and into the top five before finishing 15th.

It's worth wondering what she could have done in a top-flight ride, even though Long herself doesn't look at things that way.

"When I think about it, I'm just grateful for all the opportunities that I did have in NASCAR," Long said. "God has given me an awesome life and hopefully I can race again soon. There are so many kids that dream of wanting to compete at the highest level of a sport and I got to do that."

Long recently married fellow short-track racer Hunter Robbins, and the couple moved to North Carolina when he was hired by Kyle Busch Motorsports as a Truck Series engineer. Long might run a handful of Late Model races moving forward, but she's mostly trying to figure out what life without racing looks like.

"I'm just trying to focus on day-to-day life things," Long said. "I'm just living the life. I've never been as happy as I am right now. The wedding was perfect and I'm just trying to figure out what life is going to be like now."

But Long still hasn't closed the door on racing again. She's now in the best physical shape of her life and wants to be ready should another opportunity come her way.

"I won the Snowball Derby, which is one of the biggest races you can win," Long said. "I've had an exciting life. I've been able to go to a different track every weekend. I've had a good career and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world."