At a time of stopping an internal combustion engine, inertia energy of the engine is kept constant, for example, by controlling a number of engine revolution constant, while controlling combustion of the engine. By utilizing the controlled inertia energy, the engine is stopped at a predetermined crank angle position. Since the engine is stopped at the predetermined crank angle position by utilizing the controlled inertia energy, a large amount of energy for controlling the stop position of the energy is not needed, and the energy needed for the stop control can be reduced. Since the inertia energy utilized for the stop control is always controlled in a predetermined state, the engine can be stopped at a proper position reliably each time.