After I did this the first time and found out what a freakin hassle and mess it was trying to work around that brace, I picked up a Pela 650 extractor.
Works just fine.
I will probably pull the drain plug again a few changes down the road just to make sure everything's kosher, but if you're running a good synthetic (especially if you've had a flush) it should be no problem.
The oil filter still makes a mess though, been thinking about installing a relocator kit for it.