I exaggerated the "automatic", however:
14.5 Submission
The Contest Director must review all flight results to determine if any new performance records were set.....
I neglected mentioning the A2, since I preferred to comment on the need for a longer delay A3t motor that the OP was concerned about. My recollection is that we lost we lost the A3-6t, A3-2t and probably some other motors because some of Estes major customers, big box stores like Walmart, complained that there were too Many motors requiring too many SKUs and display pegs. So to keep customers from asking for motors that they did not display or taking their business elsewhere, Estes was compelled to discontinue some motors. I appreciated the efforts of Apogee to make the classic motors available to competitors. After Apogee started making their own motors, particularly the 10.5mm BP motors, Estes decided to punish Apogee by refusing to sell them the A3-6t and similar motors. Apogee was leveraging the motor manufacturing and licensing of Aerotech in New Mexico to manufacture the A2 and other motors. After Aerotech relocated following their fire, it was no longer practical for Tim to travel to the new location and make Apogee specific motors, and the 10.5mm motors have not been available since that event.
At some point Estes revealed that the quality of their PB source had declined, and it was no longer possible to produce the A3-6t. I take that just as an excuse. They could always pay more for higher quality materials, or even make their own boutique batches of charcoal, just for the A3-6t. Also, they could have trimmed the delay back just enough to fit, say to 5 or 5.5 seconds. Finally, they could have resorted to the Centuri 2.25" standard 13mm motor length and produced not only the full A3-6t, but the B4 as well.
I was never a fan or the 10.5mm motors and I never bought any, but is another discussion.
Recollections and perspectives may vary, but his is mine.
Alan Jones