What happened to the the $$$ in NASCAR from 1997-1998

[Hamilbet]

I was just looking at the past winners of Daytona and noticed a huge jump in payouts from 1997 to 1998? I'm not really a NASCAR guy and was just curious.

1989 Darrell Waltrip 148.466 $184,900 Chevrolet
1990 Derrike Cope 165.761 $188,150 Chevrolet
1991 Ernie Irvan 148.148 $233,000 Chevrolet
1992 Davey Allison 160.256 $244,050 Ford
1993 Dale Jarrett 154.972 $238,200 Chevrolet
1994 Sterling Marlin 156.931 $258,275 Chevrolet
1995 Sterling Marlin 141.71 $300,460 Chevrolet
1996 Dale Jarrett 154.308 $360,775 Ford
1997 Jeff Gordon 148.295 $377,410 Chevrolet
1998 Dale Earnhardt 172.712 $1,059,105 Chevrolet
1999 Jeff Gordon 161.551 $1,172,246 Chevrolet
2000 Dale Jarrett 155.669 $1,277,975 Ford
2001 Michael Waltrip 161.783 $1,331,185 Chevrolet
2002 Ward Burton 142.971 $1,409,017 Dodge
2003 Michael Waltrip 133.87 $1,400,406 Chevrolet
2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr156.345 $1,495,070 Chevrolet
2005 Jeff Gordon 135.173 $1,497,154 Chevrolet
2006 Jimmie Johnson 142.667 $1,505,124 Chevrolet
2007 Kevin Harvick 149.335 $1,510,469 Chevrolet
2008 Ryan Newman 152.672 $1,506,040 Dodge
2009 Matt Kenseth 132.816 $1,530,388 Ford