I had an automatic 89 mercury topaz that I used to drive in similar manner... so it'd hold the lower gears longer rather than shifting when only at 2500-3000 rpm. Sadly... several months later, she would not shift past 2nd when I had her in drive... it started slow, slipping in the lower gear longer if I kept my foot on the peddle... if I let up and it did shift, as soon as I reapplied the gas, it'd downshift back to the lower gear..
I ended up ditching the PoS... the car cost me $1100 and at the time, I was young and dumb, figured the tranny was fuxed (which could be for all I know) and there was no way I was going to pay even a grand to have it repaired... not like it's a mk3 supra or something worth keeping... either way, since then, I've tried to avoid driving my automatic manually like that.. even tho the supra could really benefit in acceleration for me that way (mine is NA auto, not turbo manual, I could use any help I can get in acceleration.)