timidi
you have to select the midi track AND the audio track.
But doesn't SONAR throw an error message "Selection contains no audio" when that is the case? At least it used to (or was it only when bouncing?).
Another thing is, you don't need to create a MIDI track, if you "Insert soft synth", all the tracks are created automatically.
Your workflow description doesn't mention audio track at all, so how are you actually trying to do things?