DRIVE CONTROL DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

An internal combustion engine includes: a fuel injection valve injecting fuel; an intake timing varying mechanism controlling the opening/closing of an intake valve provided at an intake port; and an exhaust timing varying mechanism controlling the opening/closing of an exhaust valve provided at an exhaust port. When a request has been made to reduce a fuel wet amount, which is a quantity of fuel adhering to a wall surface of the internal combustion engine facing to an injection field where fuel is injected, in the startup of the internal combustion engine, the control device executes wet reduction control. In the wet reduction control, at least one of the intake timing varying mechanism or the exhaust timing varying mechanism is controlled so as to reduce the fuel wet amount by a counterflow blowing back toward the intake port.