hey, I just remembered putting on a aluminum rear rack on a bike a bunch of years ago that was quite a bit wider than the dropouts of the bike. Being that much wider was causing too much "force" on the bolt area in my opinion, so I did bend the rack in a certain amount to take away this seemingly not good force--both for when mounting, and thinking down the road if I had to take the rack off for a flat (it was a rack setup on the skewer, for road bikes without bolt holes for racks)
so yes, bringing it in a "certain" amount is probably a really good idea. I just don't have the experience to know without seeing and feeling it, what would be "too much bending"
Seems to me that NOT doing the bending at a weld point would be prudent, so perhaps be aware of that---again, just common sense view on my part, you may get other opinions elsewhere.