Jonathan's final was the third in a row for Gray Motorsports, who put engine customer Larry Morgan in the winner's circle the preceding weekend in Denver with his FireAde Racing Camaro. Morgan was also a finalist in Chicago the race prior.

Jonathan, who has one win on his scorecard earned last year at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, reached the fourth final round of his career in Sonoma eliminations. Starting from the No. 6 position - his fourth consecutive top-half start following a tough beginning to the season – landed him a first-round match with Deric Kramer. The round turned into a single for Jonathan, however, when Kramer broke on the burnout. Jonathan put up a strong 6.519-second pass at 211.49 mph. It was the fourth-quickest pass of the round and sent him ahead to a second-round meeting with points leader Greg Anderson. In typical Jonathan Gray fashion, the odds were in his favor from the start as he launched with a cool .015-second reaction time to Anderson's .052. The driver of the Gray Manufacturing Camaro needed the advantage at the top end as his 6.533, 210.54 didn't match Anderson's quicker but losing 6.518, 211.86.

In the semifinals, Jonathan again was on his game and launched with a .013 to Jason Line's .050, and once again his holeshot turned into victory with a 6.544, 211.10 to 6.514, 212.09.

The win in the semis set him up for a final round with Chris McGaha, a driver Jonathan has known since the two were children and their fathers raced together in Comp Eliminator at the division level. Jonathan took the lead at the hit, .016 to .024, but McGaha surged ahead for his first career win, 6.531, 212.13 to 6.560, 211.03.

"It really frustrated me to lose that race, but on the other hand, I was happy to see Chris and his team win," said Jonathan. "They've been close a bunch, and they never have gotten it until today. If I had to lose, I'm glad it was to him. We grew up together around the racetrack, and I've known him since I was a little kid so it was a neat deal to race him in the final.

"Today was a good day for us in the points. We moved up to 8th, and I think we're pretty safe now. I don't want to get too comfortable, but I think we're okay.”

Greg Anderson maintained the series points lead, 47 in front of Erica Enders. McGaha remained in fourth, but cut his deficit to the leader to 210 points.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Krawiec (far lane) got the win. (Mike Burghardt photo)

Eddie Krawiec, who also won the NHRA Pro Bike Battle on Saturday, earned his second consecutive Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season and 29th of his career by riding past Jerry Savoie at the finish. Krawiec rode his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to his second consecutive victory and third overall at this event with a performance of 6.881 at 191.00 to hold off Savoie’s Alligator Farm Suzuki, which finished in 6.891 at 194.13.

Krawiec said even though the bikes don't race in Seattle, and aren't a part of the official Western Swing, he decided to celebrate his own unique trifecta anyway.

“We took a picture with a broom because this is sort of our mini-swing,” Krawiec said. “I was fortunate to win in Denver, and yesterday we won the [Pro Bike] Battle and today won Sonoma. That’s a good run for our Harley team. What sets this track apart is that this is one of the best surfaces we run on."

Krawiec defeated Angie Smith, Steve Johnson and Scotty Pollacheck en route to the final. He increased his series points lead to 106 over second place Hector Arana Jr.

“I give a lot of credit to my crew chief, Matt Hines, and everyone at Vance & Hines," Krawiec said. "They took an outsider and turned him into a race winner and a champion. Matt is a very unique individual. He is a thinker, and the way I look at it, he has [97] wins because all of my wins, all of Drew’s [teammate Andrew Hines] wins, and all of his wins count the same because he was a part of them.”