Possible to delete clip w/o deleting track automation?

So I had a vocal track with send automation and wanted to swap the clip out for a version I had cleaned up in RX3. When I tried to delete the original clip, the send automation was also deleted, which I didn't want to have happen. The workaround I found was slip-editing the start of the clip beyond the point where the automation occurred. That allowed me to delete the clip without affecting the automation, so that I could import the cleaned-up version in its place.
 
My question: Is there a way to delete a clip without also deleting the track's automation - that doesn't require the workaround I described? Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

Thank you, Sir!